Handling Syrian Refugees
Importance
The Syrian civil war has broken the country down to rubble. Thus, causing one of the largest displacement of people in modern times; people are fleeing from violence, a collapsed infrastructure, and protection of one’s children. As of June 2017, of these people, 3 million of them went to Turkey, 1 million to Lebanon, 660,000 to Jordan, and 242,000 in Iraq, while the United States Between October 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016, a total of 18,007 Syrian refugees were accepted. Which seems large until one realizes that there are 5.8 million Syrian registered refugees as of January and 378,750 total refugees admitted into the United States from October 1, 2011, and December 31, 2016. From 2014 to 2016 there
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Politics is at play here, it is keeping America from being able to directly support refugees but this solution keeps more people happy and very few dissenting. Doing this would allow places like Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan to remove their restrictions on their employment and housing for these refugees, it would provide help for the refugees, and furthermore it would lift the burden from humanitarian groups without directly increasing the United States fiscal budget (“If US Won’t Take More” 1). The policy would prevent the economy from slipping or fluctuating because it does not just allow a massive number of refugees into the United States. Additionally, it portrays America as a moral authority in the world and strengthens its ties to those countries and promotes a peaceful, caring world. Free trade with places like Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan is beneficial to America because if that nation grows positively then America will grow stronger as well; Syrian refugees make up 24% of Lebanon’s population and many are living with half a dollar a day. Despite this Lebanon’s GDP has grown by 2.5% in 2015 which is the best growth rate since 2010 (“If US Won’t Take More” 1). The World Bank concluded that for every 1% increase in the population of Syrian refugees, Lebanese exports increase by 1.5%. This market size effect is fantastic because it shows that Lebanon is growing due to its increase in Syrian refugees in a way that the United States would not have because of its massive economy and low rates of refugees. Allowing free-trade would assist these governments in allowing them to pass policies that help Syrians become a more prominent labor force. Free-trade could allow these governments to immediately grant legal work permits so many can come into the job market, currently 92% of these refugees do not have a contract which puts them at risk for unlivable wages. also doing this would allow them to stop