Details regarding immigration have flooded the news as of late, with the presidential election finally coming to a close. The words “Syrian” and “refugees” tend to float around our television screen a lot, yet many people do not know the true facts of the situation, but only what we have heard through presidential debates and the media. Though it’s one of the focuses of media around the world, there is not as much of a focus on helping settle these refugees.
Here are six facts we need to keep in mind when forming an opinion regarding the tragedy that is the Syrian Refugee Crisis:
1. The refugee crisis was caused by the Syrian War, beginning in March 2011.
The Syrian War will soon be entering its 6th year, yet no resolution has been found. More people to continue to flee, while conflict continues to tear through the country.
2. The United States has accepted 12,486 Syrian refugees this year, reaching its goal of 10,000 refugees but still falling short of other smaller countries.
The US has definitely stepped up and is making a better effort to accept more Syrian refugees, but there is still so much more to be done. Germany has pledged 43,431 spots for Syrian refugees, massively trumping the United States’ efforts. There is so much room for improvement, and so much more space to take in those in need. Other countries need to step up and help also, as many wealthy countries have failed to accept even a single refugee.
3. There are currently 4,837,248 registered refugees who have been forced to leave their homes in Syria and flee to neighboring countries.
4,837,248 people. In case you didn’t catch that, that’s over 4 million people. To put it into perspective, that's a little less than double the entire population of Chicago, and yet that's only the refugees who have been registered.
4. Of those 4 million refugees, almost half are under the age of eighteen.
Children are being forced to flee their homes and experience horrors unlike any other. Bana Alabed is just one example of the millions of children being directly affected by the Syrian War.
5. 11.5% of the Syrian population has been killed or wounded since the conflict began.
The numbers don’t seem like they’ll start falling soon either, with a current total of fatalities sitting at around 470,000.
6. Refugees are people, just like you and me.
Syrian refugees are not just a news story we see on TV. They are living, breathing, real people who need help. As the conflict continues, there will be more deaths and more people without homes. Support for these refugees need to be a top priority for countries everywhere, including the United States. No matter the race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or anything else, a person is a person and deserves to have a place to call their home, free from fear.
