How to respond

[SteveinMN]

Wonder if it is the reaction to the war and 9/11 and the media focus on "muslims" as the cause of all of their angst? I know that many of the people I interact with are afraid for a variety of reasons. And afraid due to the media and what many of their sons or relatives experienced at war. They often do not discriminate between countries or tribes or varieties of Muslim or even whether Muslim or Christian or other.

I understand that the majority of the middle east refugees are those with the forthought and money or assets to get out or send part of their families away to safety. They include whole groups of educated people with all kinds of skills. Amazing stories on Focus on Europe last night on refugees getting all the way thru Russia to the northern parts of Norway. I call this committed.

I see the same hysteria surrounding immigrants from Mexico and Central America. I think the xenophobia around Muslims is part of the issue with Syrians et al., but the hapless suggestions of building walls on American borders are not to keep out many Muslims.

I, too, do not see that the mass of Middle Eastern refugees are poor. They had the not-inconsiderable money to give to rapacious smugglers. They are dressed decently and carry smartphones. Many of the immigrants speak English, indicating they have some higher level of education. I wonder if statistics regarding immigrant illiteracy includes the large number of children among the crowds.

An influx of immigrants like this undoubtedly will strain social services budgets until these folks settle and begin working. But, really, was it any different when Russians landed at Ellis Island? When Hmong landed in California and Minnesota and Wisconsin? I know about "African time" but are Middle Eastern people really recognized for lacking industry and commitment? I'm not seeing that here.

[CathyA]

I'm not focusing on them being Muslims. I think I would feel the same if a million people were entering anywhere all at once.
And it makes me crazy when people make references to times long ago. It's a totally different country/world now.

It would be like a family with a lot of land in the distant past. If they had 4 kids, with lots of space and work to do, then it might make sense to consider bringing more people into their family. But many places now are over-crowded and have people who are poor, don't have jobs, don't have good education, etc.

And several times here I'm hearing about how certain countries need workers. Like who? And I'm finding it hard to understand how people on a simple living forum can use growth and development and improving economic standing, etc., etc.....as a good reason to accept more and more people. I just don't get it.

Being known for taking every refugee in, in the past, is not like today. It's sort of like the "right to bear arms" in the constitution. Maybe it was fine then, but look what's happened. Yeah....you had a right to have a musket and a big knife.
It's inappropriate to think the way things were thought out a century or two ago.

Steve.........what sentiments at the base of the Statue of Liberty are being expressed........and by whom? Of course people want to come here.

Like I've said.......I'm seeing the mindset very close to me that more and more and more and bigger and better is playing out, and it's unsustainable.

[JaneV2.0]

The hysteria around immigrants is a mixture of fear of other for various reason--the Foxification of news, irrational fear of anyone Muslim* or vaguely Semitic, racism--and the idea that we should tear down the Statue of Liberty and close the doors to the kind of people who made us the vibrant, innovative country that we are. (Because by God, I'm here and that's enough!) I'm sure the same goes for Canada.

Can anyone think of a group of immigrants who haven't made significant contributions to the common good? If you fear the scary other, once again I urge you to find a list of outstanding students, scientists, whatever group of achievers and look at the names listed. Maybe it will open your mind.

*Most of the terrorists in this country are home grown--largely white separatists and anti-government activists (Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, Ted Kaczynski--the list goes on.) For some reason, these people don't count.

[CathyA]

Okay........let's see if we can trade all our criminals and dead-beats and really stupid people for newer, smarter, law-abiding, energetic people. I'd be up for that.

[JaneV2.0]

Okay........let's see if we can trade all our criminals and dead-beats and really stupid people for newer, smarter, law-abiding, energetic people. I'd be up for that.

Now you're talking.

[razz]

You are not reading the facts presented.

Many of the million are illiterate because they are Afghans, North Africans etc., not because they are children. Adults with no literacy or working skills are difficult to teach or employ in today's economies anywhere. There are no jobs for the local residents who have these limited skills. Adding more to the mix is not wise.

Add the frustration of no employment to the failure to meet vague high expectations and it won't matter what nationality or religious background, problems will be serious. It all takes some serious planning. The OP and many others are assuming that we are talking about just educated Syrians fleeing serious circumstances but the reality is very different. The media are not presenting the facts just playing on the emotions to retain an audience.

From http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c1d.html, the UN Refugee Agency:
These are known and registered refugees. These are forgotten in today's media infotainment.

The latest figures available show that the number of refugees of concern to UNHCR in mid-2014 stood at 13 million refugees, up from a year earlier.
A further 5.1 million registered refugees are looked after in some 60 camps in the Middle East by United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which was set up in 1949 to care for displaced Palestinians.
The refugees of concern to UNHCR are spread around the world, with half in Asia and some 28 per cent in Africa. They live in widely varying conditions, from well-established camps and collective centres to makeshift shelters or living in the open.
More than half of all refugees of concern to UNHCR live in urban areas. They all face three possible solutions: repatriation; local integration or resettlement.

[JaneV2.0]

It didn't help that the war in Iraq destabilized that area; now we have Iraqis in the mix. If we hadn't deposed Saddam Hussein, this wouldn't be a problem.

[Alan]

It didn't help that the war in Iraq destabilized that area; now we have Iraqis in the mix. If we hadn't deposed Saddam Hussein, this wouldn't be a problem.

Why stop there? Now we've deposed Muammar Gaddafi and are paying insurgents to depose Bashar al-Assad, seemingly so that ISIS can then step in and completely take over the country. Iran has been financing attacks against us since the Carter days and now we're removing the barriers to their developing nuclear weapons to assist in their long held desire to obliterate Israel and the US.

I feel bad for the innocent refugees and think we have a humanitarian responsibility to take as many as we can, but it's foolish to not vet them in some way prior.

[CathyA]

I feel bad for the innocent refugees and think we have a humanitarian responsibility to take as many as we can, but it's foolish to not vet them in some way prior.

Yes.........deciding WHO to accept is so important! But I doubt that will happen.......because it just wouldn't be "fair".

[JaneV2.0]

Why stop there? Now we've deposed Muammar Gaddafi and are paying insurgents to depose Bashar al-Assad, seemingly so that ISIS can then step in and completely take over the country. Iran has been financing attacks against us since the Carter days and now we're removing the barriers to their developing nuclear weapons to assist in their long held desire to obliterate Israel and the US.

I feel bad for the innocent refugees and think we have a humanitarian responsibility to take as many as we can, but it's foolish to not vet them in some way prior.

I absolutely agree with all your points. We should vet refugees not only for Jihadist leanings, but also for their position on such things as honor killings, genital mutilation, and their enthusiasm for imposing Shariya law on all Americans. (All right, that last one was said in jest--we still have a Constitution, after all--but it seems to be a popular Fox talking point, for some reason.) They should be familiar with our laws and realize they will be bound by them, men and women equally. I'm sure there's some kind of rigorous vetting process in place already; I just hope it's as thorough as I'd like it to be.