Should We Care?: The Syrian Refugee Debate Explained
posted by Fatima Butt | December 2, 2015 | In NewsThe United Nation’s agency reports that more than four million people have fled Syria to neighboring countries, and over half of these are children. For the past four years, Syria has been in a civil war. The conflict originally started in 2011, when Syria demanded the end of President Bashar al-Assad. The conflict has continuously gotten worse with the rise of the “Islamic State” also known as ISIS.
Recently, more than half of the nation governor’s have openly expressed how they do not want Syrian refugees in their state. United States and international law defines refugee as a person who has left his or her country because of nationality or residence. A refugee is unable to return due to a justifiable fear or issue. Since the conflict arose in 2011, the United States has allowed over 2,000 Syrian refugees into our country. The office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is the federal government agencies are the ones actually in charge with providing benefits and amenities.
The main reason people, and many governors, are concerned about the Syrian refugees coming to the United States, and are blatantly denying them, has a lot to do with the recent Paris attacks. Fear has driven Americans to believe that ISIS has a lot of power and that they are going to take advantage of the refugees entering the United States to pose possible threats and terrorist attacks here. The Paris attackers have been identified as European nationals.
Another reason people are opposing Syrian refugees, is because they are afraid the screening process isn’t harsh enough. What American fails to realize is that United States has one of the most vigorous scrutinizing processes of any country in the world. Refugees typically are the most screened before being permitted for residency.
Governors can’t technically refuse refugees according to the Refugee Act of 1980. The Refugee Act of 1980 states that resettlement efforts should be coordinated by the federal government.
The United States of America was founded on principles, such as: “liberty and justice for all.” So what does that mean for us? It means, that the refugee resettlement program is least likely to bring in terrorists.
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