contagiousqueer

Syrian Refugees in Europe.

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It’s difficult to go on any social media platform, read a newspaper, or watch the news lately and not hear something about the current refugee crisis in Europe, particularly in reference to the Syrian refugees fleeing a county burdened from a four year civil war. Thousands of people are currently streaming though European borders for various reasons and the UN Refugee Center estimates that there is close to 60 million people that are forcefully displaced world wide, up from the 2014 estimate of 50 million displaced people. Mohamed Zeineldine wrote about the refugee crisis, saying that they’re refugees not migrants and:

Today’s European refugee crisis has been described as one of the largest exodus of refugees fleeing violence in their home countries since World War 2. Civil wars and violence in Libya and Syria, in addition to worsening economic conditions and political turmoil in other countries in the Middle East and Africa, have pushed millions of people out of their homelands in search of a better life, if only until peace and stability return.

Charlotte Alfred also wrote about the fact that this situation is starting to be the worst refugee crisis wince WWII and how we can learn from history about what to do. Some countries, like Germany, have been great about helping and welcoming Syrian refugees. There have been many individuals that have also been working hard to support the refugees that come through their towns.

But not everything has been positive. Nahlah Ayed wrote about how the refugee crisis has been bringing out the best and worst in Europe – some of the worst being how many places (including Hungary and one French mayor) are completely unwelcoming of refugees. Willa Frej wrote about the Europeans countries that want to refuse refugees, saying that the loudest resistance to accepting refugees has been Central Europe (although there are plenty of other places that haven’t been the most accepting either). The US hasn’t been accepting as many refugees as other places, in part because policy moves very slowly in the US but also in part because of the recent waves of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.

A big reason as to why so many Syrians are fleeing to Europe is because of the now 4 year civil war that rages on in the country. (As it turns out, one of the most Googled questions in the US and Canada at the beginning of September looked to clarify why so many Syrians were fleeing to Europe.) Violence and instability from the war and conflict have made living increasingly difficult, as one estimate holds that more than 200,000 people have died in the conflict since March 2011. Zack Beauchamp wrote a brief and simple explanation as to why people are fleeing Syria and adds some context to what started the civil war.

I’ve spent a good portion of my day reading and researching about Syrian refugees and could honestly keep writing about what’s happening.

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