Joined: 06-22-2007 Posts: 10,889
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Abrignac wrote:In regards to the op, I wonder if US bans on admitting large numbers of refugees in general and the Syrian ban specifically are actually good things. It makes absolutely no sense to me that people should be shipped halfway around the world. Why not work with neighboring states to absorb them where the culture and language are similar? Good question. My question has always been 'Why are there ANY 'healthy' male Syrian refugees between 18 and 60?' They should be in Syria fighting for their country. I do know that Turkey and Lebanon have accepted unfathomable numbers, but your question prompted me to dig just a little. From Amnesty International Web site Syria's refugee crisis in numbers 3 February 2016, 19:02 UTC
Last updated 20 December 2016 Refugees in the region
More than 4.8 million Syrian refugees are in just five countries Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt:
Turkey hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country worldwide Lebanon hosts approximately 1 million Syrian refugees which amounts to around one in five people in the country Jordan hosts approximately 655,675 Syrian refugees, which amounts to about 10% of the population Iraq where 3.1 million people are already internally displaced hosts 228,894 Syrian refugees Egypt hosts 115,204 Syrian refugees
The UN’s 2016 humanitarian appeal for Syrian refugees was just 56% funded by the end of November 2016.
93% of Syrian refugees in urban areas in Jordan are living below the poverty line, as well as 70% of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, 65% in Egypt and 37% in Iraq. Conflict in Syria
According to the UN around 13.5 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance inside Syria. The number of people displaced within Syria is expected to rise to 8.7 million by the end of 2016.
The 5 countries which border Syria (Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey) have closed their borders to people fleeing the conflict. Currently, 75,000+ Syrians are stranded in dire conditions along the Syria-Jordan border. Ongoing conflict in Syria, including recent attacks in Aleppo, will likely lead to more people trying to flee Syria.
Between January and September 2016, Syrians made up the largest nationality of those crossing the Mediterranean to get to Europe (26.2%). International Resettlement
In total, 224,694 resettlement and other admission pathways have been pledged globally since the start of the Syria crisis, which equates to a mere 4.7% of the total population of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey.
At least 480,000 people in the five main host countries - or 10% - are in need of resettlement according to the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR. Key facts:
Gulf countries including Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain have offered zero resettlement places to Syrian refugees. Other high income countries including Russia, Singapore and South Korea have also offered zero resettlement places Germany has pledged 43,431 places for Syrian refugees via resettlement and other admission pathways; about 46% of the combined EU total. Excluding Germany, the remaining 27 EU countries have pledged around 51,205 places via resettlement and other admission pathways, or around 1% of the Syrian refugee population in the main host countries Germany and Sweden together have received 64% of Syrian asylum applications in Europe between April 2011 and October 2016
Sources: UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), International Organization of Migration (IOM)I can't find good current numbers, but I don't think that more than about 15,000 have settled in US since the start of their civil war. Pretty low when compared to some outside the gulf region. Vast majority seem to be women and children, also. And many have extended family members here...so there is that. If there is agreement that there are true refugees that need resettlement, then I have no problem with the US stepping up and taking numbers more in line with EU countries and Canada. I am not convinced that the current 'ban' is making us any safer. In fact, I'm fairly certain that it will have the opposite effect. We've all heard how great the ISIS recruiting engine is. We've just offered to keep it gassed up and running at top speed for a while. This will be a propaganda coup for those painting a picture that 'The West hates us'.
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