With the ongoing civil war in Syria, millions of people have experienced displacement as refugees.
These refugees face substandard living conditions and discrimination from citizens of the countries that house them.
Despite our moral obligations and material resources, the United States has allowed fewer than 2,000 to enter the country.
Since 2011, Syria has faced a civil war that began as protests against the threatening government of Bashar al-Assad.
As the protests evolved into armed rebellion, the U.S. has faced increased pressure to develop a strategy of involvement in order to help almost 4 million refugees.
Though the refugee problem has mainly affected the European Union, the U.S. still has the ability — and we believe, responsibility — to intervene and help refugees.
The U.S. thinks in a “police of the world” mentality, but when it comes to acting as an aid to the world, we fall short.
It’s times like these when we should forget about borders and boundaries separating us as human beings in order to recognize the dignity and rights that we all deserve.
And, when we deserve those rights, someone has a duty to give them.
Republican politicians have argued that we shouldn’t help the refugees as we might bring in terrorists, like ISIS members, to our country.
However, this Islamophobic response scapegoats the millions of innocent families that require assistance in this time.
In addition, this is a problem of refugees, not one of immigration.
We must view the refugees as people who absolutely need help, not people who merely want to enter our country.
We do have a duty to help those refugees in their situation given our involvement in Middle Eastern affairs — or lack of involvement in certain affairs, such as the Assad Regime.
The U.S. has announced at least 10,000 refugees will be let in during 2016.
Anne Richard, a State Department official, said, “Well, next year the president has said we will bring 10,000. So the year after that I’d like to see a steep ramp up.”
Secretary of State John Kerry announced Sunday the U.S. would bring in 100,000 refugees by 2017, but two years away may be two years too late.
Pushing for a quicker solution is not only the right thing to do, but the humane thing to do.
Together we can pressure the nation to reach out to help the innocent lives in need.
