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The Opinion Pages|The Plight of Refugees, the Shame of the World

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The Opinion Pages | CONTRIBUTING OP-ED WRITER
The Plight of Refugees, the Shame of the World
AUG. 13, 2015
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Zeynep Tufekci
Zeynep Tufekci
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The world is facing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II, a staggering
60 million people displaced from their homes, four million from Syria alone. Wor
ld leaders have abdicated their responsibility for this unlucky population, arou
nd half of whom are children.
The situation is sadly reminiscent of that of refugees fleeing the destruction o
f World War II and the Nazi onslaught. Then, too, most governments turned their
backs, and millions who were trapped perished.
We are mired in a set of myopic, stingy and cruel policies. The few global insti
tutions dedicated to supporting this population are starved of resources as gove

rnments either haven t funded them or have reneged on their pledges of funds. Weal
thy and powerful nations aren t doing their part; the United States, for example,
has taken fewer than 1,000 refugees from Syria.
Zeynep Tufekci
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