Governors barring refugee resettlement, cities on high alert, citizens fearing for their safety, what is up with all the furor over Syrian Refugees.
According to the UN Refugee Agency website, “persons of concern to UNHCR by mid-2014 stood at 46.3 million, compared to 42.9 million at the end of 2013.” “Afghanistan has been the largest source country of refugees for more than three decades.” http://www.unhcr.
org/54aa91d89.html
Why are we just talking talking about 10,000 Syrians? Although Syrian refugees now number more than Afghans under UNHCR, refugees from Somalia number over 300,000 in Kenya alone. “Somali refugees living in Dadaab [Kenya] revealed that only 2.4 percent of the roughly 340,000 camp residents are currently willing to return…” to Somalia. http://www.
hiiraan.com/PDF/2014/Between% 20a%20Rock%20and%20a%20Hard%20 Place%20Somalis%20in%20Kenya. pdf (via Roger Dixon on Comma Forum)
It seems that the conversation about who we should let into our country is short sighted. Should we be thinking about how to intercede in this emergency situation and improve the conditions in which these refugees are living? Some will resettle to the US but not many compared to the tragedy that exists.
Here is a link to some thoughts that a bit more factual than rhetorical.