The Circassian repatriation Organization (CRO) forms a partnership with the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)

The Circassian repatriation Organization (CRO) forms a partnership with the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)

The Chairman of the Circassian Repatriation Organization (CRO), Dr. Orfan Shouakar-Stash, and two members of the Board of Executives, Mrs. Tina Abzakh and Mr. Sabah Tsey met with Mrs. Catherine Woollard, the Secretary General of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) to officially declare the partnership between the CRO and the ECRE. The meeting took place in the ECRC head quarter in the Brussels, the Belgian Capital.(11-03-2017)

The CRO officials utilized this meeting to describe the hardship that the Circassian refugees are suffering since the war broke in Syria. During the meeting the representatives of the two organizations discussed the possibilities to help the refugees find safe and permanent places where they can start their lives in safe places they can call HOME. The CRO emphasized on the right of all Circassian to return to the Caucasus if they choose to return and stressed that this right can be an essential aid in helping the refugees settle in a safe place and resume their lives instead being displaced and live in refugee camps for an unknown period of time that might extend into several years. The participants of this meeting agreed that refugee camps are temporary solutions that should not last for extended periods of time and that refugee camps are not a healthy environment to live in especially for kids. Therefore, permanent solutions must be identified and implemented as soon as possible.

The chairman of the CRO, described some of the programs that the CRO have been pursuing to help the Circassians affected by the war in Syria, including the Small Business Support Program (SBSP) that was initiated in 2015 and have been running successfully since. The SBSP is a project that is designed to help Circassians who moved back to the Caucasus start their own businesses and become financially independent. Mrs. Woollard, praised the program and pointed out the usefulness of these types of programs and described similar projects that the ECRE and their members are involved in to help refugees in Europe. Mrs. Woollard explained the different divisions of the ECRC and the way they operate and how they can be helpful. Furthermore, she gave suggestions on how to benefit from the ECRC and its members. Enaal Shouakar-Stash attended this meeting as a volunteer and helped put this article together.