Aliyah Abdulmalek

Prof. Joshi

Pre English

8/10/17

Audience Analysis: In this paper I address the general American government. This audience is
crucial to my topic because they have the power to make the significant changes needed to
change the rules and regulations of foreign policy. This topic is controversial as is but will be
even more when geared towards my intended audience. My argument will be harder to
persuade to politicians as they have probably heard a variety of arguments similar numerous
times. However it is still possible to persuade my argument as it is the most debated topic to
date, showing that people dont know exactly how to feel about the issue of refugees.
Additionally coming to a resolution with this issue will require mass changes in the current
foreign policy. Legislators may be against this as they acknowledge the common person is
ignorant about refugees therefore may cause backlash. The solution also implies that there
must be a trust in the process rather than having a set clear plan. This can be disputed by
politicians as they might see it that not having a set plan can be seen as unreliable.

The Saga of Syrian Refugees

In America it is common for people to be afraid of the sound of thunder. The loud

booming sound in the sky is what keeps up most people, but for Syrians it's the sound of

airstrikes nearby. In an interview conducted by World Vision, a Christian humanitarian aid,

development and advocacy organization, the Alamedans sat down to talk about their experience

in Syria when Rabah, the mother, stated, We couldnt sleep because of the airstrikes, the

children would cry everyday (Qtd, Costanza, para.11). Amongst Syrians the sound of airstrikes

has become a common sound to where it can be compared to the sound of thunder during a

storm, which says a lot about the crisis in Syria. This contrast cannot go unnoticed, especially

when in 2016 alone the Obama administration dropped over 20,000 airstrikes, implying that the
United States is in fact part of the issue therefore, involved in this crisis (The Guardian, para. 4).

However, this is only the surface of the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

The Syrian Refugee Crisis has become a growing world issue in the last seven years as

more and more Syrians are becoming refugees and displaced. The Syrian Refugee Crisis

consequently stems from the civil war in Syria. Back in 2011, protesters took the streets calling

for a reform in government. Unhappy with their president, Bashar Al-Assad, shutting down press

with different political views, and opposition figures being arrested without warrants, some

Syrians felt he was slowly taking away their freedom (BBC news). Soon many rebel groups rose,

mostly identifying as Kurds. The rebels found support from Sunni majority countries such as

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and Jordan as well as the United States of America (Zorthian, para.

2). Although many Syrians rebel against the government, this does not consist of its entire

demographic.

In this paper, I will discuss the Syrian Refugee crisis and specifically dive into the United

States role in aiding the crisis. Moreover, this paper will examine how the crisis is currently

viewed and mention the numbers related to the crisis. Although some may argue that the U.S.

has no responsibility in the crisis, I will argue the U.S. has enormous potential in ceasing the

Syrian plight. In fact, the United States should take more urgent action to end the ongoing

conflict because the U.S. is already involved in the civil war, the U.S. has the necessary

resources to deal with the situation as well as the many children's lives who have been lost.

Opponents of the United States taking in more Syrian refugees would argue that the U.S.

has been involved in other countries wars for far too long, such as the Iraq, Libya, and Yemen

war. Stephen M. Walt, a writer for the Foreign Policy magazine argues against U.S. involvement
claiming, ...the United States should not do more in Syria or in other places where humanitarian

crises loom, further saying the U.S. has chosen turn a blind eye on the conflicts in El

Salvador, Guatemala and Argentina (Walt, para. 13). While this does stand true to an extent it is

important to note the U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war is different from those mentioned

that obliges it to give humanitarian aid.

Firstly, the U.S. has already taken position on the Syrian civil war, yet has not

contributed as much of their effort in bringing in refugees. The Kurds receive help from several

different nations opposed to Syrian leader, one of them being the United States. The United

States Department of Defense has supported Syrian rebel groups with funding and weapons

(Libertarian Institute, para. 35). It is clear that politically the U.S. is against the Syrian

government. However the humanitarian support given shows a discrepancy as one would assume

their involvement in the war would be the same with ceasing the rising number of refugees.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recorded the U.S. has taken in 14,333 total

Syrian refugees over the seven year civil war and 11 million refugees accumulated since 2011

(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). The unproportional rate at which the United

States is taking in refugees shows a contradiction. Can't have it both ways, if a nation is

politically and militarily indulged and invested within other countries conflicts, then this implies

that the nation must also care enough to give humanitarian aid.

The U.S. should step in to solve the crisis as the country is already deeply involved with

the conflict. January 27, 2017 President Trump made an executive order banning entry to citizens

from seven majority Muslim countries as well as putting a complete halt on all Syrian refugees

for 90 days (Almasy and Simon, para. 6 ). Although the ban was quickly suspended from judges
around the United States, believing the ban was unconstitutional, the executive order has since

been put back to order with minor changes. This has had a lasting effect on overall refugees able

to resettle in the U.S. From President Trumps presidency the number of refugees around the

world entering the United States went from 110,000 to 50,000 (Migration Policy Institute para.

3). On the contrary, a few months later in April 2017 President Trump ordered missiles to Syria

justifying it in his speech saying, Syria [government] launched a horrific chemical attack on

innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of hopeless men,

women, and children (Qtd. Sampathkumar, Independent). President Trump's ability to

acknowledge that the Syrian citizens are innocent and victims to a war out of their hands, the

same should be done when making bans and debating whether to allow Syrian refugees in.

Furthermore, it would be appropriate that the United States take in more refugees due to

its resources. The U.S. stands as one of the most capable nations compared to other nations

taking in more refugees. According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2

million Syrian refugees are registered in Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon as well as 3 million

registered in Turkey (UNHCR). Neighboring countries are becoming overwhelmed with

refugees. The U.S. has the ability to take some of the stress of their hands. Along with that the

U.S. has major influence around the world specifically to its allies. The U.S. is acknowledged by

many as one of the most powerful nations in the world. Just looking at Canada, a country not

acknowledged to be nearly as influential as the U.S., and their efforts to bring in 25,000 Syrian

refugees by the end of 2016 has shown enormous benefits in ceasing the refugee crisis (Long,

para. 56). If the U.S. put in as much effort as Canada, then possibly allies in the European Union

would involve themselves and take in more refugees as well. This is key as only a select few
countries are housing refugees and in doing so could become a problem economically. However

if the U.S. and other nations step up then the cost will be spread out.

Finally, it is the moral duty of the U.S. to be more involved in taking in refugees because

children are heavily affected by this crisis and losing their lives daily. Children often are the

most affected by wars. They have no voice to the situation theyre in and fall victim. The civil

war in Syria is no exception. Syrian refugees consist of 47.6% children under the age of 17

(UNHCR). That means nearly half the refugee population affected is children, half have barely

reached a point in their life to where they can understand the concept of war. The violence and

bloodshed has become normalized to the children. Inevitably this could take a huge toll on their

physical and mental health in the the long run, if the current situation in Syria stays the same.

The crisis continues to affect children the most as, Two decades of investment in education

have been wiped out. Six years of conflict have tripled the proportion of Syrian children out of

school...to 2.8 million in the 2014/15 school year the overwhelming number of children missing

out on education will only grow more the longer the Syrian refugee crisis is handled poorly

(International Network for Education in Emergencies). The U.S. has the ability to prevent this

from further getting worse than it already is by taking in more refugees than the pledged 10,000

by President Obama and speeding up the resettlement process.

Overall, the United States is already heavily involved in the Syrian civil war, funding the

rebel groups that cause the Syrian government to further push the war, so the U.S. government

also needs to be more involved in the Syrian refugee crisis. The resources that the U.S. has also

makes it absurd that more refugees are not resettled in its borders. We must also not forget the

countless children affected by this war when claiming that Syrians chose to be at war, when
clearly that is not the case for all Syrians. The American government needs to change its

approach towards the refugee crisis and acknowledge that the longer this goes on, the bigger an

issue it becomes worldwide. Although the Syrian refugee crisis will not be resolved overnight,

letting more Syrian refugees into the U.S. borders ceases the Syrian refugee saga. Another

Holocaust cannot happen again and be regretted years later when it is too late.

Word Count: 1389

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