US considers taking in Syrian refugees

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

The United States usually accepts about half the refugees that the U.N. agency proposes for resettlement. California has historically taken the largest share, but Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia are also popular destinations.

U.N. refugee officials, diplomats and nongovernmental relief groups plan to discuss possible resettlement schemes at a high-level meeting this week in Geneva. Germany already has committed to taking 5,000 people.

This is a long and well done article about the Syrian refugee crisis that explains in detail the process how the US takes into consideration who to take in.

For the full read: LINK

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

No mention of the BRIC countries in this article.. .especially the "C" .. or for that matter any of the Asian countries that have resources . .Korea, Japan, etc.. If the US normally takes half the total load the UN is asking.. and I have to assume another hefty portion is Europe and Australia.. Seems there are a large number of candidate countries that get zero consideration...

I don't know this to be true, just reading the article and curious why these other countries are not mentioned.

[Merrytooth 5,748]

Maybe because they are homogeneous countries, making it more difficult to accept refugees of diverse ethnic background?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

mmm.. I could see it being harder for someone to adjust to a mostly homogenous culture... I did a quick lookup after posting and actually many of those countries do have large refugee populations though I'm having some difficulties understanding the numbers..

Not meaning to derail the thread.. The process for vetting potential refugees (a year) and the number (does not say but Germany is pledging 5000) does not seem like it would make much of a dent for Turkey or Jordan - had no idea they had so many.

Edited June 11, 2013 by OnMyWayID

[momof1 205]

Do you realize how many refugees have already fled to Turkey and Jordan? Other countries are considering taking them because the system in neighboring countries is overwhelmed.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Do you realize how many refugees have already fled to Turkey and Jordan? Other countries are considering taking them because the system in neighboring countries is overwhelmed.

Not until I read the article... Hence the reason I said "I had no idea they had so many" .. The article said 1.6 million with half of them being in Turkey/Jordan.. If Turkey is pushing 400,000 and Jordan even more.. My comment was that the 5000 being offered by Germany will not make much of a dent in that number. The article itself said it could make the problem even worse because people will see a way out and come in even greater numbers.

Edited June 11, 2013 by OnMyWayID

[momof1 205]

Not until I read the article... Hence the reason I said "I had no idea they had so many" .. The article said 1.6 million with half of them being in Turkey/Jordan.. If Turkey is pushing 400,000 and Jordan even more.. My comment was that the 5000 being offered by Germany will not make much of a dent in that number. The article itself said it could make the problem even worse because people will see a way out and come in even greater numbers.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you wrote. I thought you were saying that Turkey or Jordan could easily take 5000. I'll blame it on lack of sleep since my two year old has been sick all weekend....it's always easy to blame it on the kids, right?

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

No harm ..

I am glad the OP posted the article.. I had no idea of the scale.