How will you respond to the plea?
You can change the life of your refugee brothers and sisters
What is happening?
We are in a time period where warring countries are not uncommon. Many people are living in poverty and are terrified to leave their homes. Their only hope is to emigrate to Europe or North America. Terrorist groups like Isis and and wars going on in their home country are keeping them from leaving.Where are they coming from?
- Syria
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- Sudan
- South Sudan
- Central African Republic
- DRC
- Eritrea
- Somalia
- Myanmar
What countries are accepting the refugees?
- Turkey (1.9 million)
- Lebanon (1.1 million)
- Jordan (629,00)
- Iraq (249,000)
- Egypt (132,000)
- Germany (98,700)
- Sweden (64,700)
- Hungary (18,800)
- Denmark (11,300)
- United Kingdom (7,000)
- France (6,700)
- United States (1,500 resettlements)
- Canada (10,000 resettlements)
- Australia (12,000 resettlements)
- United Arab Emirates (250,000)
- Brazil
National flag of Germany
National flag of France
National flag of Hungary
Who accepts the refugees
National flag of Turkey
National flag of Lebanon
This is just some of the things that refugees have to go through to be safe and enter the United States
And here is an amazing video by John Green that gives a overview of the refugee crisis, and how Europe, North and South America, and Austrialia react to it
How can you help these people?
The first way is through an organization called Oxfam America, and the second way is through directly writing to President Obama and Secretary Kerry. (links to all below)
What I personally wrote
Dear [either President Obama or Secretary Kerry] I am currently writing to you as a high school student. I live in Atlanta Georgia, and will soon be going into my last year of high school, but I am not here to talk about myself. I am here to talk about the Refugee Crisis. Lately I have been looking into the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and I have found that the people in these countries are being mistreated. I know that this is a known fact and that I am stating the obvious. What I truly want to talk to you about is what we can do as a nation to help these people. Fighting will not help the situation, these people already live in violent countries. What I propose is that we help them in other ways. A few weeks ago my mom and I went on a habitat for humanity build. I helped the homeowner build a home for herself and her family. While I was there I learned a bit about the Habitat for Humanity program. I was told that the people who receive the home help the next generation of people in the program. So for about a year or two after their house was completed the habitat homeowner will help in the organization with teaching others and building homes. I swear this little story has a point, and the point is that I think we need to apply the Habitat for Humanity's ideas to the Refugee Crisis. I believe there should be a government program funded by the donations of the American people. These donations should then go to helping get these people out of their warring country. Once we bring them to America, or wherever else we bring them, they will be entered in a program which will help help them become integrated into society. We can help them build a home, we can teach them about our economy and English, and we can give them the medical attention they need. After they go through the program they, in turn, can help their brothers and sisters back in their homeland. They can help build and teach those who were in the same position as them. We can make strong bonds between the refugees and us and we can help a wide range of people. I just read a story of a family in Syria who had a little son by the name of Mohammad. The family was awaiting resettlement from the American embassy. But because we waited too long the son, Mohammad who had a heart problem, died. This program can help people in situations like this. We can save so many people if we just open our doors to them. This program doesn't have to just stay in America either. We can team up with other countries and build even better bonds with European countries. Maybe one day we will be able to fix this problem for good. Right now we can only send support and try to stay as peaceful as possible in these warring countries. Please consider this proposition. Sincerely, Marina Massaroni
There are so many ways you can get involved
For more information take a look at Refugees international.