Syrian Refugees: An Opinion Piece

The Syrian Civil War: a conflict that has been going on for more than five years, and a ruthless dictatorship that has been going on for even longer. This travesty caused the displacement of millions of innocent lives, and took the lives of more than 200,000 people. As the war continues to escalate and violence spins out of control, a mass exodus of Syrian civilians continues to occur. 4.5 million citizens have been forced to move away from their motherland in search of a better life— a life without the looming threat of violence. As Syrian refugees gain increasing media attention, more and more people are forming opinions on what they think we should do with the refugees. But what do the students at our school think of this?

I went out and interviewed a few high school students, trying to get a wide variety of opinions. I asked them whether they supported having Syrian refugees come to the United States, and why or why not they believed in what they did. George Bensema, a junior at the Dayton Regional STEM School, was very steadfast in his opinions, stating that he did not believe in allowing ‘undocumented refugees’ into our country. “The director of the FBI stated there’s no way we can background check… any of them… with our current system. Plus, ISIS has stated they’re gonna use Syrian refugees to get into United States.”

He later clarified that he understood why the Syrian people were fleeing, and that while it would be ideal for the United States to allow them to enter our borders, the danger of terrorists is a much bigger issue. “When ISIS has threatened to use the Syrian refugees to, you know- this is what happened in Europe. That’s why the Paris attack happened. We had Syrian quote unquote refugees and illegal passports created to get into Paris…” (Author’s Note: the Paris attacks were not caused by Syrian refugees. The ‘Syrian’ passport found was a fake, and belonged to a man who died six months prior to the conflict.) The other students whom I interviewed that were against Syrian refugees coming to America shared the same opinion, believing that the vetting process is not safe enough to protect from Syrians, especially Muslim refugees.

Alex T. Smith, a senior at the school, thinks otherwise. In his words, he feels that the conflict is: “…completely out of control of the people who are suffering because of them, and I feel like it is our moral obligation to… allow people to come in and flee those countries to find safety, security, and be able to have the opportunity to succeed.” As the author, I have to agree. Out of all 784,000 refugees, only three men have been charged with plotting terrorist acts. Syrian refugees who come in have a .0000004% chance of committing a crime— you are more likely to die in your bathtub than be plotted against by a refugee. (Not even attacked— no American refugee since 9/11 has actually carried out an attack.) The fear that Syrian refugees are going to come in here and blow up our known world is offensive to Muslims such as myself, and we as a people need to learn to treat these refugees like they are: displaced, frightened, and innocent people in need of help. As a country that has prided themselves on being a melting pot, it is our obligation to allow these humans into our country, not shut the door in their faces. In the words of Alex, “America has and always will be about immigrants coming in and sharing ideas.”