In comments that may appear tailor-made to provide the excuse for European nations to reject refugees, Lebanese Education Minister Elias Bousaab told British PM David Cameron today that he estimates that two out of every 100 Syrian refugees are “ISIS-trained fanatics”.
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They are fleeing a conflict that began as a popular uprising in 2011, but quickly turned into a war that has killed over 250,000 people, creating more than 4 million refugees and displacing some 7.6 million more within the country. The exodus of refugees is one of the largest in recent years.
Judging from the way that most of the immigrants are dressed, the amount we are told they have to pay the people traffickers, and the number of mobile phones in evidence, many have the means to travel to their preferred destination by air. Around 40 percent came from Syria, according to the worldwide Organisation for Migration.
Catholic Charities will resettle about 60 more refugees of any nationality in 2016 than this year, said Toc Soneoulay-Gillespie, the charity’s resettlement program director. All of these people are collateral damage. The war torn Syrian people have migrated to many neighboring nations, especially Europe.
“I’m at a refugee camp in Lebanon, hearing some heartbreaking stories”, Cameron tweeted as he met refugees who will be resettled in Britain. Save the Children staff on the ground – all of them Syrian – risk their lives to keep a network of schools and clinics running as the humanitarian situation gets steadily worse.
One of them is Ahmed, a 37-year-old father of three who says he is running out of money and can no longer afford his rent, the equivalent of $135 a month. Israel also could take in some refugees, as opposition leader Isaac Herzog has called on the government to do – even though we recognize the issues of concern that must be addressed before such a move is made.
An innocent young child drowned, not because of the war in Syria, but because the father thought he could do better in Europe than in Turkey, where his family were already living and safe.
Danna Van Brandt, spokeswoman for the State Department, said it is working to “facilitate increased admissions” of Syrians in light of the refugee crisis while still “safeguarding the American public”. In response to the unusual current increase of refugees, the U.S could take in another 10,000 this year, some of whom might make their way to Illinois. That’s a good start, but still falls short of a fair share for a country of 330 million people.
“I take ISIS at its word when it said … we’ll use the refugee crisis to infiltrate the West. That concerns me”, said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul on ABC’s “This Week”.
“We believe that the refugee problem that has reached the heart of Europe will not stop spreading until a political solution to stop the war in Syria is reached”, he added.
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The United States needs to step up its humanitarian efforts generally for displaced Syrians, including taking in as many as possible, as soon as possible.
