How the United States Can Do More for Syrian Refugees

The recent violence in Syria has posed one of the largest refugee crises the world has seen in recent decades.  The conflict in Syria has also seen more refugees than either Rwanda or Bosnia.  Many countries around the world have taken in Syrians seeking shelter and basic necessities.  Germany has taken in 18,000 refugees; Sweden, nearly 15,000; and Bulgaria, a smaller country in size has taken in 5,000 refugees.  The United States; only 90.  The U.S. views the crisis as both a humanitarian challenge, but also a security challenge that continues to weaken an already unstable region.  So far, the United States has provided $1.3 billion in humanitarian aid to help the people of Syria and to also eliminate the chemical weapon threats.  This large sum is far more than that of any other country giving humanitarian aid to Syria in any dollar amount.
 However, there is growing pressure for the United States to open its doors to more refugees.  Jordan's King Abdullah has stated, "my people cannot be asked to shoulder the burden of what is a regional and global challenge."  A few State Representatives have already suggested to the Department of Homeland Security to "extend humanitarian parole for the nearly 6,000 Syrian nationals with approved immigration petitions by providing them with temporary visas...Allowing already-vetted refugees to rejoin family members in the United States would take minimal effort."  Usually, it would take about six to twelve months for refugees to resettle under standard protocol.  Also, according to the State Department's "Refugee Admissions Policy for 2014," the State Department has an "unallocated reserve" that would allow the United States to give refuge and take in up to 2,000 refugees from any region around the world.  The billions of dollars that are being provided to Syria in its time of crisis is certainly helping; however the argument in this article is that the United States could do more by permitting the entrance of many more Syrian refugees into the country.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2014/01/08/how-the-us-can-do-more-for-syrian-refugees

- Jack Mikolajczyk