Iceland review - 2016, Blaðsíða 40

38 ICELAND REVIEW
SYRIANS
photographers, as well as Red Cross,
government and local municipality rep-
resentatives. In the welcoming crowd
was Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð
Gunnlaugsson and Minister of Social
Affairs Eygló Harðardóttir. “Welcome
home,” the Prime Minister greeted the
group. “We look forward to having you
as part of this small but good group that
Icelanders are.” The new arrivals, many
carrying drawings of the Icelandic and
Syrian Revolution flags and messages
like “Thank you Iceland,” took selfies
with the Prime Minister, chatted with
other members of the welcoming com-
mittee and received gifts of warm clothes
before boarding the awaiting buses to
the capital. Two of the families headed
to the town of Kópavogur, just out-
side Reykjavík, while the remaining four
families took an onward flight from the
domestic airport to their final destination
of Akureyri. Khattab says that despite the
support for refugees in Iceland he’d wit-
nessed on social media, he hadn’t quite
expected such a warm welcome. “People
really welcomed us. We even met the
prime minister, which is not something
that is normal in Arab countries,” he
tells me.
For Eygló Harðardóttir, the experi-
ence was also special. “[It was] moving,
given the terrible conditions they’ve had
to endure. But, at the same time, we were
happy that we could provide this group
protection. I felt much appreciation from
the group and they were optimistic about
their future in Iceland,” she told Iceland
Review.
Ahead of the group’s arrival, Red Cross
volunteers—many of whom were among
the roughly 1,200 who signed up during
the week-long ‘Kæra Eygló’ campaign—
had begun furnishing the families’ new
homes with donated goods, as well as
learning about Syrian culture and tradi-
tions. Hrafnhildur Kvaran, project man-
ager for refugees at the Red Cross in
Reykjavík, explains that volunteer sup-
port families are paired with refugee
families based on similar interests and
the ages of their children. Their role is to
help introduce them to Icelandic culture
and society and help them settle in—
offering both psychosocial and practical
support.
One such support family is social
worker Sigríður Sigurðardóttir, her hus-
band, lawyer Guðmundur Águstsson, and
their children. “I started thinking about
it during [the] ‘Kæra Eygló’ [initiative].
My husband and I talked about it and
discussed it with our children, and then
we contacted the Red Cross,” Sigríður
said the morning of the group’s arrival
in Iceland. She was excited to meet the
family, who would settle in Kópavogur,
and was wondering how they would get
along. “We’ll just have to see how it is.
Hopefully we will all become friends
and we can integrate them into our
family. We just found out that they do
speak English, which will of course make
things easier.”
A grandmother herself, Sigríður said
it is important to be able to support
the family with their children, as they
don’t have any relatives in Iceland. In
preparation for the role, Sigríður and
Guðmundur read up on the Middle East,
including Syrian history and culture.
“We want to try to see things from their
perspective,” she explained.
NEW CHALLENGES
Aside from social support from Red
Cross volunteers, refugees resettled in
Iceland receive support from social ser-
vices in the municipality in which they
live. This service includes financial sup-
port, social and psychological counseling,
accommodation, furnishings, education,
including Icelandic lessons for adults,
recreational activities, healthcare, inter-
pretation and translation services, help
Zaid 2
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Ibrahim 10