More nations need to open their doors to Syrian refugees, according to three researchers at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public in a letter to the editor published in the New York Times January 11, 2015. Josyann Abisaab, Satchit Balsari, research fellow, and Kathleen Hamill, visiting scholar, said of the current plight of the refugees: “A truly global effort is needed to alleviate the biggest humanitarian calamity of the 21st century.”
The letter:
To the Editor:
It comes as no surprise that Lebanon is imposing visa restrictions on Syrian refugees. With the highest per capita ratio of refugees in the world, Lebanon’s population of about 4.4 million has already increased by more than 25 percent since the Syrian crisis began four years ago.
How can Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq possibly be expected to absorb more than three million refugees while more prosperous countries in the Middle East — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are still keeping their doors closed to Syrian refugees? With the exception of a few countries like Germany and Sweden, the majority of Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia have failed to accept any significant numbers of Syrian refugees.
The frail economies of the Levant are stressed by this large influx of refugees, resulting in state measures that seemingly protect the host populations. Furthermore, Lebanon has to contend with a delicate sectarian structure, which could ignite the region if further destabilized. A truly global effort is needed to alleviate the biggest humanitarian calamity of the 21st century.
JOSYANN ABISAAB
SATCHIT BALSARI
KATHLEEN HAMILL
Boston, Jan. 6, 2015
SATCHIT BALSARI
KATHLEEN HAMILL
Boston, Jan. 6, 2015
The writers are researchers at Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, and have reported on the Syrian refugee crisis.
