Gov. Dr. Jeff Colyer accompanied Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, as he visited Syrian refugee camps over the past few days.
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“Millions of refugees have now been waiting for years for the end of the war to come in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey”, Carson said in a statement released today to ABC News. “We need real solutions.” said Dr. Carson.
Carson called on the United States to do more to help Syrian refugees resettle in Middle Eastern countries, and said that the Obama administration is not doing enough to solve the crisis, and that bringing the 25,000 refugees into our country is not the answer. Jordan is doing an wonderful job opening its doors and extending a hand in relief. Colyer said the visit to Jordan gave the presidential candidate “the opportunity to meet Syrians first-hand and listen to their stories”.
Carson spoke with Syrian refugees and officials during visits to several medical facilities, adding that he was delighted to learn about the humanitarian efforts by other countries to help assist the suffering refugees. “Jordan needs and deserves our help”.
But Carson suggests that the rest of the world needs to do more to help, explaining, “These courageous people want nothing more than an end to the war in Syria”. Lebanon, which hosts around 1 million refugees, in May stopped registering new refugees altogether.
“We must balance safety against being a humanitarian”, Mr Carson said during a campaign stop in the southern U.S. state of Alabama. Carson also posted a picture of his visit on his Facebook page.
Carson’s trip Saturday comes after he made comments supporting background checks on refugees trying to come into the United States.
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President Barack Obama has said the USA will take in 10,000 refugees, a fraction of the hundreds of thousands who reached Europe this year. Most Syrians in Jordan, however, live in urban centers near the border, with the population increase causing severe shortages in housing and pressure on the kingdom’s limited resources. It was not immediately clear whether he had met with any Jordanian officials. Refugee camps have sprouted in Jordan’s desert areas near the Syrian border, filling the landscape with a sprawl of prefabricated huts together with tents emblazoned with the United Nations logo. They have complained that they are carrying an unfair burden while the global community’s support has fallen short.
