When the civil war in Syria became internationally recognized as a major issue, with millions of civilians displaced, news stories splattered across social media. When the 2016 United States presidential election began, debates broke out about whether or not the U.S. would allow refugees to seek asylum in the country. More recently, however, these conversations have declined. Regardless, the Syrian refugee crisis remains an important and increasingly complex issue that must eventually be addressed by countries in collaboration with the United Nations.
As of June 2, 2016, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has identified 4,843,344 individuals as registered Syrian refugees. Of this number, 50.3% are male, 49.7% are female, and most are between the ages 18-59.
Currently, the countries taking in the most refugees are Syria’s neighboring countries, namely Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and Lebanon. Turkey holds the highest number of refugees than any other country at 2,743,497 individuals.
Roughly 10% of refugees have applied for asylum applications in Europe, with 1,004,345 total applications between April 2011 and March 2016. However, European countries have been hesitant in granting these applications. Germany has currently granted asylum to the largest number of refugees in Europe, accepting 140,910 total individuals. Second in Europe is Sweden, which has granted asylum to 32,215 refugees. These numbers, of course, are exceedingly small in comparison to the total number of refugees seeking asylum.
Despite the vast need for developed countries to aid in this crisis, both European countries and the United States have failed to be of significant help. In fact, the United States is lagging behind in its own goal of allowing 10,000 refugees into the country, a modest goal made by President Obama. As of April 2016, the United States has only granted entrance into the country to 1,285 refugees. Even if the United States had reached its goal of 10,000, this would have hardly made a dent in the large number of refugees.
While Syria’s neighbors are taking in large numbers of migrants, due to their geographic proximity to the crisis, these countries will not be able to financially withstand the influx of population for an extended period of time. Instead, these countries are acting as temporary places of refuge for the individuals fleeing the Syrian war. Eventually, refugees will need to be relocated from these countries in order for conflict and instability to cease in the region. Because radical Islamist groups such as ISIL use poverty as a recruiting tactic, refugees left in Syria and surrounding countries are much more susceptible to being converted to extremism. When military groups threaten to kill the families of impoverished refugees, their likelihood of joining radical groups is heightened. Leaving refugees without asylum allows for a greater recruiting pool for radical groups in the region, which leads to more civil war, more conflict, and more refugees.
Despite the fear that allowing refugees into Europe and the United States would lead to security issues, "there have been no recorded terrorist attacks committed by refugees" in United States history. In order to stop the rapid spread of radicalism, developed countries must begin providing adequate aid to global issues like the Syrian refugee crisis.
Even if the eventual relocation of refugees was not considered, the United Nations’ request for funding has also been left unanswered. The UN has requested $435,537,270 to provide necessities to refugees, but has only reached 30% of its goal at $131,147,665, with a $304,389,605 gap. Both the lack of funding to aid refugees and refusal to grant them asylum have heightened the severity of this crisis, revealing that it is a long way from being resolved.
