The administration of President Barack Obama seems to lose the argument about Syrian refugees as the unity among the Democratic Party may be compromised by the terroristic attack in Paris (Lind par. 1). At the same time, French President Francois Hollande stated that his country would welcome 30,000 refugees in the next two years (Sandhu par. 2). Thus, the western world should continue to perform its humanitarian duty of assistance the refugees. Furthermore, it is not only a question of humanity for the USA to host the refugees but also a matter of its long-term interests.
The current strategy of the White House suggests resettling 10,000 Syrians next year in order to help the Old World to overcome the worst refugee crisis since the times of the Second World War. While the USA, because of its geographical location, has an option whether or not to host these refugees, crowds of desperate people are storming the borders of European and Asian countries. About four million Syrians were forced to leave their homes to Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, while hundreds of thousands have sailed across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, and nearly 5000 have sunk to death trying.
Turkey has already hosted almost two million Syrians. Germany’s plan is to take up to 800,000 this year. 190,000 are expected in Sweden (Jacobsen par. 2). The U.S. has taken only 1500, and even the scheduled 10,000 is ridiculously low. Despite this, many politicians are skeptical about the idea. More than half of governors oppose letting the refugees into their states. It is the federal government’s authority to accept the refugees into the country, but the governors can still make the process more difficult. For instance, Texas Governor Greg Abbot suggests that “American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger,” referring the Paris’ tragic events (Satlin par. 3).
Since the attack of September 11, the USA has admitted 1.5 million migrants and refugees from the Middle East, and it is not the time to close the border now. As was mentioned previously, it is not only a question of humanity and compassion. There are also several logical reasons for this. Concerning humanity, though, the United States was always a leader in terms of humanitarian response since it has left the policy of isolationism.
Following World War II, our country has resettled more refugees than other nations combined. Another reason to host more Syrians is the responsibility as the current crisis in the Middle East is closely tied to the Iraq operation, and many leaders of ISIS originate from the Baathist army, which was disbanded after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime (Alikhan par. 5). After all, the USA has taken about 750,000 Vietnamese in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Tens of thousands of Europeans who were fleeing communism were accepted during the Cold War, and more came after the fall of the Soviet Union.
They all have become an important part of the American nation. Some of them were great scientists or successful businessmen. In this way, it is a matter of our own interest to host more refugees (Shapman par. 7). It is possible that one of the millions of children, who lack education in the refugee camps, may one day become a new Steve Jobs. Furthermore, these people, who would experience the American way of life, would know that the USA is not their enemy, as ISIS is trying to present.
In conclusion, I would like to say that I completely understand the fear of people who are scared by the tragedy in Paris, but fear should not influence questions like this. After all, it is hardly possible that terrorists will try to enter the country by the official channels.
Works Cited
Alikhan, Faris. The US should accept more Syrian refugees to boost our national security. The Guardian. Web.
Jacobsen, Henriette. Sweden expects 190,000 asylum seekers in 2015. Euractiv, 2015. Web.
Lind, Dara. Republicans have Obama in a corner on Syrian refugees. Vox, 2015. Web.
Sandhu, Serina. Paris attacks: President Francois Hollande welcomes 30,000 refugees in the next two years. Independent, 2015. Web.
Satlin, Alana Horowitz. Scottish Newspaper Puts U.S. Governors To Shame With Refugee Welcome. The Huffington Post, 2015. Web.
Shapman, Steve. This Is Why America Should Take More Syrian Refugees. Reason. 2015. Web.