Toe the Line: College Republicans | Syrian refugee crisis

Let's all do our part

By John Speck 09/25/15 5:23pm

For over a century, “The New Colossus,” the sonnet adorning the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, has challenged us to accept the world’s huddled masses. Advocates for the tired and poor have referenced it countless times to urge action on a number of humanitarian crises. Today’s crisis of Syrian refugees is the latest.

Announced last week, the United States will accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the upcoming fiscal year, up from 1,500 this past year. Some politicians and pundits have suggested the United States accept upwards of 100,000 refugees, and Democratic presidential candidates Martin O’Malley and Hillary Clinton have both suggested the U.S. take 65,000 refugees. However, this is all a debate in triviality. The crisis has seen millions upon millions of people displaced from their homes. This crisis will not be solved by the U.S. taking in a number of refugees.

Let’s look at how we got here. It is uncontested that the civil war Bashar al-Assad is waging against his citizens is horrific and the root cause of this mass displacement. However, without debating the merits of the Iraq War, the expedited manner in which we withdrew completely has caused the country to descend into mayhem. ISIS has been allowed to lay waste to much of Iraq’s territory and subsequently enter Syria. Without a residual force, we have severely weakened our ability to respond to regional situations, gather intelligence and assert force.

Obama’s second detrimental error was the "red line" debacle. At no other time in recent memory has the U.S. looked more impotent than after the international community provided proof of the use of chemical weapons, followed by President Obama spending ages spinning his original comments.

And in perhaps the most blunt instance of our consequentially weak foreign policy, Obama made the infamous comment that “we don’t have a strategy yet” at an August 2014 press conference. Obama’s failed foreign policy has significantly contributed to the instability in the region. There is no easy solution to the ISIS and Syria crises, but we have to begin with a unified and strong policy against these groups.

There are many aspects of the refugee crisis that need to be dealt with, and dealing with the extenuating circumstances is just one. In terms of managing the actual humanitarian crisis, aid and refuge need to be provided. The U.S. is doing what its most logical role is in resolving the crisis. Just three days ago, it was announced that we will be providing an additional $419 million to the international relief programs helping the refugees. This will bring the total amount the U.S. has donated to the relief effort to over $4.5 billion. This represents the single largest donation to the effort by any nation.

There are some nations, however, that have done almost nothing to solve this crisis. Six gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — have taken a combined total of zero refugees. Their financial contributions have also been minimal. Geographically it simply makes sense for neighboring and nearby countries to take in refugees, while those more distant, like the U.S., provide resources and support financially. It is a disgrace that rich gulf states like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and others have done so little to aid the crisis happening in their own backyards.

This is a crisis of the human race. A devastating and bloody civil war continues in a region ravaged by extremism, corruption and ancient religious turmoil. We all have a role to play in solving the refugee crisis. Europe and the Middle East need to see that refugees are given safe homes and treated with dignity. The U.S. needs to provide a strong foreign policy that aims to restore stability in the region and to continue providing much needed financial aid to the cause.

— John Speck

W'17

College Republicans representative

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