The civil war in Syria has been taking place since March of 2011 and is still going on today. In this four year time span, 300,000 civilian lives were lost and nearly 10.6 million people have been displaced from their homes. Of that 10.6 million people, half of them are currently seeking refuge in other countries. The European Union has recently opened their borders to these refugees, but in order for the refugees to make it to a safe place, they need to find their way there first.
However, as welcoming as most of the European countries have been, countries like Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia have been very antsy about letting the migrants so much as pass through. While this region has always been known for its religious intolerance, many people were expecting more from this area seeing as how it’s the safest way to get through to other European countries. More specifically, Hungary has already started building a wall around its entire border to ensure that no more refugees will be able to travel through. Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, even went as far as to make a statement saying “I think we have the right to decide that we do not want a large number of Muslim people in our country.” This blatant act of Islamophobia has been the cause of hundreds of dead bodies being washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean. There have even been truck-loads of people trying to sneak across the borders that have wound up dead in the process.
Although there has been a lot of lives lost, there is a brighter side to this story. Germany, one of the most welcoming European countries, is getting ready to take in 800,000 refugees. The United States has also said that they will be willing to take in 10,000 people next year. Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Denmark, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom are also preparing to take in as many refugees as their economy can handle.
People all over the world are lending a hand to help the Syrian people. There are dozens of ways that you can help the refugees too. You can donate to Unicef, Save the Children, the British Red Cross, Islamic Relief, and the United Nations Refugee Agency. You can also volunteer with the International Refuge Committee and there are plenty of protests you can take part in and petitions to sign. This crisis isn’t just affecting the people of Syria; it’s a worldwide problem that everyone needs to work together to fix.
