Syrian Refugee Crisis

POLS 2305 RESEARCH PAPER:

U.S TO ALLOW MORE REFUGEES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST

KIRT REGISTE

12/11/2015

Pres Obama plans to increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed into the United States. So far the U.S has only allowed about 1,500 refugees since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. Over the last 4 years, millions of people have been killed or displaced because of the war, half are children. This has become the greatest humanitarian crisis since world war 2. Therefore, as one of the strongest powers in the world the U.S has an obligation to do something about this. In 2016 the Obama administration plans to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country. There are risks that come with accepting this responsibility such as terrorist threats, high birth rates, cultural change, and increased crime. Many politicians have taken positions against Obama’s decision because of these fears.

Syria has lived under the dictatorship of the al Assad family since the 1960’s. This was until the Arab spring in 2011. In which a wave of protests and revolutionary conflicts led to the down fall of a lot of authoritarian regimes in the Muslim world. However, the Al Assad family, now being led by Bashar al Assad, refused to step down. Instead they responded in military action. Under the command of Bashar Assad, the Syrian government has used aerial bombing on civilian neighborhoods and barrel bombs. They’ve even went so far as to use chemical weapons on their own citizens. Thus began the Syrian civil war. Multiple rebel groups have arisen to attempt to overthrow the Assad regime. Amidst the chaos, Isis, a military jihadist group used this opportunity to seize power. Isis now controls large parts of Syria and Iraq. It has now become the most successful and violent extremist group in history. Isis intends to build an Islamic caliphate. Which is a form of Islamic government led by the caliphate, a religious successor to Muhammad. The civilians are...