Policy Options Brief
TO: Barack Obama, President of the United States
Joseph R. Biden, Vice President
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader, House of Representatives
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader, House of Representatives
FROM: Hanna Mueller, Jennifer Joseph, Chris Tagoe, and Shanice Branch
RE: United States’ response to the Middle East refugee crisis
DATE: October 7, 2015
Problem: Middle East refugee crises
According to Maher Samaan, less attention has been paid to the Syrian Arab Republic’s civil war since the rise of Islamic State due to the highly publicized violence and threat ISIS poses to the West. The last couple months of the civil war in Syria have been brutal. More than 200,000 people have been killed since the war started four and a half years ago (Yourish). Amidst the escalating violence, people experience unemployment, inflation, electricity and water shortage. Syria’s population lives in extreme poverty (Rummery). Mass shooting and gunfire between pro-Assad forces and rebel militias has pushed more then four million Syrians to flee the country, adding to already existing problem of refugees and migrants in the Middle East and Europe.
Migrants and refugees are leaving their countries for different reasons, but often travel on the same route. Metir Corabarir urges that there are political and humanitarian consequences of using inaccurate terminology, since it shapes our perception and behaviors. According to international refugee law, “refugees” are people who are forced to leave their countries and are unable to return because their lives and freedom are in danger; the causes of danger may be widespread violence, war, foreign occupation, prosecution and other serious human rights violations (The 1951 Geneva Convention). On the other hand, international migrants are people who leaving their country voluntarily mostly due to economic hardship; they leave in search of a better life. Under the international refugee law, countries have responsibilities towards refugees, but not migrants. However according to the Universal Declaration of Human rights they ought to respect the human rights of both refugees and migrants. The use of terminology allows some countries to evade their responsibilities towards refugees by naming them “migrants”, “illegal migrants”, or “persons under temporary protection” (Corabatir). Most Western countries call the largest humanitarian crisis of our era “the migration crises”. They impose more restrictive policies, which leads to the double victimization of refugees, describes Corabatir for Al Jazeera English.
There are officially seven million Syrians displaced in their home country, and more than four million seeking safety in the neighboring Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey (Samaan). The overwhelming number of the refugees in these countries causes hostility, cutback of benefits, and restricted access to borders. The UN Refugee Agency recorded funding shortfalls for refugee programmes in Jordan and Lebanon. The United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHCR) states, “The Syria Refugee and Resilience Programme for 2015 is currently just 37 per cent funded.” This underfunding leads to reduction of food aid and worsening conditions at the formal refugee camps across the region, forcing people to send their children out to beg (Rummery). Victims are seeking an escape by taking increasingly extreme measurements to go further afield, especially to Europe.
Physically exhausted and psychologically traumatized refugees have two ways to arrive in southern Europe. One of the ways is to cross the Mediterranean Sea; this route considered the deadliest for refugees and migrants. More than 2,700 migrants and refugees have drowned or suffocated at sea this year (UNHCR). According to the UNHCR data, over 350,000 refugees have reached southern Europe by sea as of the end of August. Another way is by crossing through the heavily guarded border of Turkey. The lack of legal routes leaves no choice for asylum-seekers but to turn to smugglers for unauthorized border crossing. These inhumane transportation methods take the refugees through the Balkans and onward through Hungary (“Sea Route”).
The European Union border agency announced more than 150,000 refugees entered the European Union (EU) in August, adding up to more than half a million for the year (Frontex). Michael Birnbaum states that amid the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, a surge of thousands of refugees is reaching Europe faster than they can be accommodated. As arrivals increase, reception capacity and conditions are inadequate to support the demand (UNHCR). The Serbian-Hungarian border was rebuilt and secured with armed forces last weekend in order to maintain an orderly stream of refugees trying to get to Germany and Austria, where authorities promised them protection. William Spindler, a spokesman for UNHCR, says that registration systems and processes across the EU differ from country to country, and many don’t have the ability to register more than a few hundred a day (qtd. in Witte). According to Alexandra Krause, a UN representative at the Greek-Macedonian border, a record 7,000 people crossed the border in just one day in early September.
As the EU, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan have extended a hand of help to most of the people fleeing the war torn countries, the richest states on the Arabian Peninsula have not stepped up to the plate. Rich gulf counties such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have so far failed to offer safe havens for the refugees fleeing their war torn countries. These Gulf countries are not signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention and so they are not obligated to take in these refugees. These countries to varying degrees have supported and allied with various rebel and Islamic factions the region (Maslin). The international community should put pressure on these counties to help with the current situation. On the other hand, most of these countries in the region are allies of the United States and the U.S. should use its’ influence to persuade them to do more to resolve this humanitarian crisis.
The question of what the U.S. role should be in addressing the growing humanitarian crisis has made for some harsh political debate and has raised a lot of controversies. A senior White House official told the NBC News that "the reality is the U.S. can't come close to solving the problem." (Jansing) Some lawmakers worry that accepting a large number of refugees could mean exposing the country to security risks. Some politicians don’t believe that it is our responsibility to resolve the refugee problem and that other countries such as the Arab gulf states “which are awash in oil money” should be the ones taking initiative to solve the issues (Williams). The U.S. has generally been a leader in humanitarian response; however they have never recovered from the post 9/11 fear that a terrorist may infiltrate their refugee resettlement program.
On the other hand, antiwar activists, other politicians and other lawmakers argue the opposite. They posed that the U.S. has a moral obligation to aid and shelter refugees has they are partly responsible of the issue - it is tied to the Iraq war and its aftermath. Stephen Lendman, - a retired Chicago businessman who hosts a thrice weekly "Progressive Radio News Hour” states that, "If America stopped waging wars against independent countries, the refugee crises would not happen (Williams). The way to help the refugees is to stop these wars.” In fact, according to the public opinion, the underlying cause of the crisis is Syria's relentless civil war. And, as some of politicians pointed out, the implication of the west has a lot to do with it. As a world leader, America has a responsibility to take in more refugees to aid in the crisis (Newland). Thus, solving the conflict in Syria and elsewhere is essential for any lasting solution. Furthermore, according to Bashar al-Assad, “The West is "responsible" for the refugee crisis in Europe.” “The West now is crying for the refugees with one eye and aiming at them with a machine gun with the second one," Assad said "If you are worried about them [refugees], stop supporting terrorists" (Burke).
Policy Options
1. Response oversees
a. Diplomatic resolution to stop Syria’s war
Numerous analysts have suggested that the best way the United States can prevent the creation of additional refugees is to use military force to remove the violent leaders causing them to flee (Jones). However, there are a lot of dangers in starting a military operation in Syria. It will create even more damage and force the rest of population to escape the region. Therefore, the safest and least costly solution to resolve the problem is to use diplomatic means.
With the recent detection of Russian and Iranian financial and military backing of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, United States officials should immediately initiate a conference with all sides involved in the conflict. U.S. officials need to propose models of political transition for the formation of a new government in Syria. Through negotiations among the involved sides, the resolution should include Russia, Iran as well as Assad’s army to stop its military actions in the region. This resolution should also achieve a cease-fire in Syria and establish further strategies to eradicate ISIS.
b. Financial and technical support to Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan
With opinions divided among Americans as whether to accept more refugees into the U.S. or not, one scenario that can appease both sides is to look at an option that involves the U.S. devoting more resources to the refugees outside the United States. Turkey andthe less developed countries in the Middle East including Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt are shouldering the majority of the burden. With close to five million refugees between them, the major challenge these countries face is the lack of resources. They lack the resources to provide adequate shelter, food, water, clothing and health services for the huge influx of refugees. It will cost less money and pose nearly no security threat if America will provide financial and technical support to these countries. The United States should help these countries to develop their ability andcapacity to quickly build housing and other facilities needed for the refugees. The United States needs to also aid these countries with military and security resources to help them improve safety and maintain a sheltered environment for the large influx. With additional external help, these countries will have the ability to take in and care for more people. It will reduce the pressure on America and the European countries. This will significantly reduce the security threat that most Americans believe will arise with the intake of the refugees.
2. Increasing intake of refugees in the U.S.
The European Union has agreed to take in an additional 32,500 refugees from Syria and Eritrea over the next 2 years by a quota system (“Why is EU struggling”). If the United States implemented a similar quota system it would counter act the influx in population growth as opposed to taking large lump sum at once similar to Germany’s 800,000 applications for asylum. The United States currently takes about 70,000 refugees each year; to remain the leading country in moral and humanitarian efforts we must increase this number drastically, the 1,500 Syrian refugees taken in this past year is a number to be laughed at compared to the millions taken in by Turkey and Lebanon (Sengupta). However, we do acknowledge America’s efforts of agreeing to host 100,000 refugees from Syria this fiscal year beginning October 1st (Harris).
To complement the vast scrutiny and thorough background checks of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, we should be assessing if refugees have friends or family already in America and look to unite friends and family before random placing. It is easy for people who have a warm bed and place to call home each and every night to cast immediate suspicion on taking in refugees. The claim that the refuges have ties to terrorist cells is a popular topic in politics especially during the current presidential campaign. Republican candidate Ben Carson state, “U.S. should bar refugees from war-torn Syria because they are "infiltrated" with Muslim extremists who seek to harm America” (Beaumont). This type of prejudice should not discourage you from keeping the policies and beliefs America to hold true. The policies and procedures laid out by U.S. Refugee Admissions Program will ensure the very people we are trying to help are not going to hurt us in the end. Refugees have a history of valuing education, hard work, and have been proven to help build our economies.
The movement of refugees is expected to continue on a significant scale. This humanitarian crisis requires urgent attention. Refugees face severe humanitarian and protection challenges related to extreme poverty, the suffering throughout the crossing, abuses of smugglers, and the closure of the borders. Mr. President and the leadership of the U.S. Congress, the policy options presented offer the most humane and effective possibilities on how the United States can remain one of the key faces of the refugee crisis without causing harms to America.
Thank you for your attention and support for this issue.
We look forward to discuss proposed actions to resolve the refugee crisis.
Works Cited
Beaumont, Thomas. "Republican Hopeful Carson Says No to Syrian Refugees in US." Journal Times. Associated Press, 02 Oct. 2015. Web. 04 Oct. 2015.
Birnbaum, Michael. "Refugee Crisis: Five Ways for Europe to Solve It."The Sydney Morning Herald. SMH, 09 Sept. 2015. Web. 15 Sept. 2015.