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| Picture from: The Daily Beast |
The Syrian civil
war has been going on for over five years, and with continuous cease fires that
are being broken - and mass death and destruction continuing to take place. It
seems that more Syrians will be seeking refuge outside of the country. This will
result in more countries needing support to house hundreds of thousands more
that will be fleeing their homes to the intensity of the civil. In recent news,
after the bombing of Aleppo by the Assad Regime, Russian Jets, and extremist
groups like ISIS and Jabat Al-Nusra [1].
According to
recent reports, there are over 50,000
Syrian refugees at the border of Syria and Jordan close by the Ruqban and
Hadalat border[2]. In recent years, countries neighboring Syria
(such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey) have taken some of the largest amount of
refugees. However, there has also been a mass influx of refugees seeking
refugees in European countries in the last three years. These refugees consist
mostly of Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, abuses in Eritrea, as well as poverty in
Kosovo that flee to Europe in large
numbers every year. [3]
These large
number of refugees arriving in European
countries have led to push back policies that seen by most people as xenophobia, islamophobia and racist.
Recently, the current policies that were
agreed upon by the European Commission on October 25th, 2015 has created more
issues than finding ways to ensure that
Syrian and non Syrian refugees are being
treated with dignity, and are integrated into the societies of the
respective European countries housing these refugees. Some of the 17-point plan
policies that raise concern and can endanger the wellbeing of refugees include[4]:
●
permanent exchange of information
●
limiting secondary movements
●
shared management of migration flows
●
border management
These policies
were created through a meeting by level of Heads of State or Governments on
refugee flows along the Western Balkan route. Although these meetings and
policies were intended to ensure that refugees are treated in a humane manner
along the length of the Western Balkans route. The outcomes of these policy
implementations have only lead to more refugees being treated with less
dignity. For example, the current living
conditions in the camps in these Balkan states are inhumane conditions by
border patrol officers located in the western Balkan states of Europe.[5]
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| Picture from: BBC |
European
countries should take the lead of other
western countries, like Canada that has taken more progressive steps that that
treat refugees with dignity and best integrates them into Canadian society[6].
●
Private sponsorship by individuals,
corporations and organizations can provide safety and shelter to thousands of
refugees each year.
●
Canada’s unique sponsorship program
allows Canadian residents and organizations to directly sponsor asylum
petitioners abroad.
●
The government will prioritize processing
the applications of privately sponsored refugees, under a program that allows
Canadian citizens and organizations to sponsor family members or other asylum
seekers.[7]
●
For refugees permitted into Canada under
government sponsorship, emphasis will be placed on admitting Syrian women and
families currently displaced and living in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey,
according to Immigration Minister John McCallum[8].
[1] "Aleppo bombed as Syrian army begins 'calm' plan
elsewhere | Reuters." 2016. 9 Apr. 2016 <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN0XR0CT>
[2] "Jordan blocks 50,000 Syrian refugees near
border - Al-Monitor: the ..." 2016. 9 Apr. 2016
[3] "Migrant crisis: Migration to Europe explained
in seven charts - BBC.com." 2015. 9 Apr. 2016 <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911>
[5] "Migrants Crossing Balkans Face Routine Police
Abuse ... - VICE News." 2015. 9 Apr. 2016 <https://news.vice.com/article/migrants-crossing-balkans-face-routine-police-abuse-and-extortion>
[6] "An Alternative Way to Resettle the Refugees -
WSJ." 2015. 9 Apr. 2016
[7] "United Nations Praises Canada's Refugee Policy
- Muftah." 9 Apr. 2016
[8] "Canada Unveils Syrian Refugee Resettlement
Program - Muftah." 9 Apr. 2016
