Press Release
The Dear Children of Ash-Sham Die After Refugee Boats Sink. How Many More Do We Lose Without the Khilafah?!

The BBC reported on the 23rd of September 2022 that 71 migrant refugees were found in a sinking boat off the coast of Syria. Dozens have been reported dead. Twenty of the survivors were taken to the city of Tartus to be treated in hospital. Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian women and children were among the 120-150 onboard. Mustafah Mesto was one of the brothers of the Ummah who died with his two daughters and son. His mother Adla is devastated at the loss but has no means to have answers for how this catastrophe happened. She is quoted as saying: "He ran away from poverty and the terrible conditions they left us in. These politicians could not care less about our lives. Nothing will bring him back to me, nothing will bring his little children back to me.”

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Lebanon hosts an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and almost 14,000 from other countries. It hosts the largest number of refugees per capita in the world. International observers have said that such dangerous crossings by boat have risen over 70% as the global crisis increases with no end in sight. More than 80% of Lebanon’s population is struggling to afford food and medicine. According to UN figures, departures from that country alone nearly doubled in 2021 from 2020.

The miserable situation of the thousands of refugees who have drowned is shown in that this devastating maritime feature has become an international norm. An entire industry exists in cheap fake life jackets and illegal human trafficking that is completely out of the control of every international law enforcement agency. Our innocent small babies are being led into a fake reality of a better life only to have their trust betrayed.

The Khilafah (Caliphate) under the sincere leadership of a Khalifah (caliph) looking after the affairs of the Ummah would never accept this loss in human lives and the prolonged state of desperation. The forced migration is a sad reality of the desperate Muslims as they have lost all hope. No parent would willingly put their children in danger unless they really thought of life and death reasons; on the other hand, which male guardian would send his wife and children into the hands of death? Can you imagine the horror of knowing you are drowning with no one coming and that you must witness your children scream for help, but you can do nothing?

We pray to Allah (swt) that we may never know such grief and sorrow, and we pray that Allah (swt) will return our protector and guardian soon – the Khilafah based upon the method of the Prophethood that will lift this Ummah from this desperate state of human suffering and oppression and return security and protection to the Muslims. Allah (swt) says:

(وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُواْ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ)

“And when thy Lord said unto the angels: Lo! I am about to place a viceroy in the earth, they said: Wilt thou place therein one who will do harm therein and will shed blood, while we, we hymn Thy praise and sanctify Thee? He said: Surely I know that which ye know not.” [Al-Baqara: 30].

Women’s Section
in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir