Table of Contents
Introduction
The world is faced with various economic, political and social challenges that have far-reaching implications for the well-being of the people. These challenges, if not well handled can end up eliciting other problems like displacement of people. When people encounter hostile treatment in their own country, they seek help or relieve outside that country. Those people who are compelled to vacate their home country as a result of persecution, war, violence, hunger or any other forms of mistreatment are refugees. The refugee problem continues to escalate in various social constructions around the world because of the emerging cases of civil war and other persecutions in many countries and this leads to many people fleeing their countries. According to the human rights watch, the world had close to 14.9 million refugees in 2001. One of the countries that has been affected to a greater extent with the refugee crisis is Syria. This paper will analyze the political approach as the only possible means of solving the problem.
Background of the Problem
The Syrian problem was caused by the failure of the country’s political system. In Syria power was always linked to the ruling family. There was no way another political leader could emerge in the country. The country had got one political party which made it difficult for any dissenting option. Other political channels were blocked hence leaving people with minimal to express their dissatisfaction with the government. The government curtailed the civil society groups and the media’s freedom (Balouziyeh, 2016). The hopes of many Syrians to get fair treatment and an opportunity to express themselves was no more. People lacked an avenue to air their grievances, and this was dangerous in any free society. The death of president Hafez who had been in power since 1971 gave rise to the regime of his son Bashar al-Assad who took the reign of power in 2000. President Bashar blocked reforms in the country and this lead to discontent in people.
In March 2011, there erupted protests in the country of Syria. These protests began in the southern city of Deraa. The reason for the demonstrations was the arrest and torture of school going children who painted anti-government slogans on the wall of a certain school. The government responded to the protests by sending security officers who opened fire and ended up killing many demonstrators. This act of the government to kill demonstrators stirred up the protest whereby more people flooded the streets. The problem attracted a nationwide demonstration demanding that President Bashar al-Assad resigns. The more the government responded with force, the more the situation became dire. In mid-2011 many people took to the streets across Syria (Balouziyeh, 2016). The opposition in the country of Syria ended up arming its supporters for retaliation. The main purpose that made the opposition to arm its supporters was for them to protect themselves and also to evict security officers from their areas.
The protest escalated effectively leading to violence in the entire country of Syria. The protestors formed various rebel groups that were aimed at fighting the government forces. The rebel groups wanted to take control of some of the major cities in the country. The fighting intensified, reaching the capital city of Syria and also the city of Aleppo (Freedman, 2017). Beginning of 2013, it was reported by the United Nations that close to ninety thousand people had lost their lives. However, this number went up to two hundred and fifty thousand people by the end of 2015 (Freedman, 2017).
The violence took a new direction by taking sectarianism dimension. The sectarianism dimension is where the fighters were no longer concerned about fighting for or against President Assad; they began to align themselves based on religious sects like Sunni who are the majority and Shia sect. It is important to note that the Syrian civil war also attracted regional powers as well as world powers. There is also another dimension which was introduced to this crisis by the Jihad group (Freedman, 2017). United Nations reports indicate that the war has caused a major humanitarian crisis in Syria and the surrounding regions. All the parties that have participated in the Syrian war have violated human rights. Both the government side and the opposition side have violated human rights. Many people have been denied access to food, health services and clean water. The war has resulted in disappearances of people, torture, murder, rape and other forms of violence.
The Syrian conflict has led to a humanitarian problem forcing people to vacate their country. Approximately four and a half million people have fled from Syria from the onset of this conflict (Culbertson, 2015). The majority of these people are children and women because they are the ones who are most affected. The Syrian refugees have fled to countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan (Culbertson, 2015). The other refugees have fled to Europe that has led to another problem of how to share the burden among the European countries. The majority of the countries where these refugees fled are overstretched as a result of the huge number of people seeking humanitarian assistance in their countries.
The Syrian problem has also led to the displacement of people within and out of the country. Close to six and a half million people have been internally displaced in the country of Syrian. Many children are out of school as a result of the civil war. Millions of people are dying because of hunger they can hardly manage to buy food. The fighting protagonists have worsened the situation by blocking humanitarian agencies from accessing the hard-hit areas to supply foodstuff (Culbertson, 2015). The situation in Syria is growing worse, hence making the country unfit for human settlement. The only option left for the Syrian people who are tired of the crisis is to opt to become refugees to find safety and other basic human needs.
Refugees as a Societal Problem
The refugee problem in the world is always a societal problem. Many countries that host these refugees end up encountering various constraints as a result of limited resources. The case of Syria is not an exception. Refugees have moved from Syria to countries like Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, hence causing societal problems in these countries. Many hosting countries have always lamented about insecurity cases associated with refugees. Where refugee centers are set, cases of crime, murder and theft are always high (Gucer, 2013). The moment a country opens its doors for refugee insecurity cases are said to increase. Many of the refugees tend to be idle lacking something meaningful to do in the society. The result of this idleness is insecurity and other forms of vices. Therefore, it is necessary to observe that refugees are part of the societal problem.
The other perspective of this societal problem is ecological. Refugees can infiltrate a particular region, hence increasing the population of that area. When the population has gone up, it follows that the scramble for natural resources will go high. Natural resources such as water, land, and fuel can end up becoming scarce in that region (Gucer, 2013). This scramble for natural resources may end up affecting its sustainability. As a result of this scramble, soil erosion, landslides and degradation of soil fertility is inevitable. It is therefore evident that refugees are always a societal problem everywhere in the world.
We can do it today.
A majority of the countries where refugees settle are often confronted with varied economic and social challenges. The economic constraints in the hosting countries qualify the refugee issue to be a societal issue. Hosting countries are forced to divert development funds into the refugee programs. Some countries even go as far as borrowing to cater for the increased number of refugees within their borders (Miliband, 2017). A case in point is where the European countries are finding it hard to offer asylum to the Syrian refugees who have begun flooding in Europe. The World Bank reports regarding refugee settlement in Malawi estimated expenditure of close to twenty million dollars by the Malawian government. This economic constraint explains why refugees create a societal problem from an economic point of view.
Refugees are also a societal problem from a cultural point of view. The moment refugees enter the host country; the chances are high that they can interfere with the cultural heritage of that country. The best example is the influx of Syrian refugees in Europe. It is argued that the high numbers of refugees who enter the European countries are threatening to transform the western cultural heritage of the European countries (Miliband, 2017). Religion is one of the cultural heritage in Europe that is under siege because the majority of the Syrian refugees are Muslims. The European cities, for example, Beziers in France has got rising numbers of Muslim refugees. Therefore, it is clear that refugees are a societal problem in many parts of the world.
Possible solution to the refugee problem
The refugee problem is one of the major issues that the world is not tackling with the seriousness it deserves. Many countries in the world are not concerned about the increasing number of refugees. The refugee problem has been left to developing countries of the world. These countries accommodate close to eight-six percent of the total number of refugees in the world (Betts, 2017). The developed countries are less concerned about the problem. It is imperative to note that the governments of the world have a responsibility to play when it comes to the issue of refugees. The argument in this section is that political approach to the Syrian refugee problem can offer best results.
One of the solutions to the refugee problem in Syria is setting up proper political systems. It is evident that the genesis of the Syrian refugee problem was political and it, therefore, follows that political approach can be the best solution. The Syrian refugee crisis emerged as a result of the political instabilities that commenced in 2006 with a section of the population demanding the (Furtak, 2015). The people face difficulties in addressing the issue that is why it led to street protest and eventually civil war. If the political situation in Syria can be addressed, then chances of calm returning to Syria are high. If there is calm, then refugees can easily go back to rebuild their lives at home.
The other angle to the political solution is that the governments of the world should accept these refugees in their countries. The international refugees’ law states “that no human being should be coerced to go back to a country where there is war or violation of human rights”. Many countries of the world do not help refugees who are outside their borders. The Syrian case can be easily handled if developed countries of the world such as America can come up with a political system to absorb these growing numbers of refugees from Syria (Cherri, 2016). The global political system does not favor refugees, for instance, the US, and other European countries are not willing to embrace asylum.
Another reason why the political approach is the best way to handle the Syrian problem is that economic approach cannot offer a permanent solution to the problem. Many people in the world think that money is the solution to the Syrian problem, but that is far from it. What the refugees need most is not money, but a place to call home where there is peace and acceptance. If they get a place to call home, they can easily build their lives and continue as normal human beings. The United Nations reports indicate that close to $5.5 billion is required to help the Syrian refugees (Sirkeci, 2017). The reality is that this money is not available at the moment and this means that the refugees will continue to suffer. It is true that money can offer temporal help to the Syrian refugees, but it cannot help them to solve the cause of their suffering. Therefore, the only way to solve the Syrian refugee problem is by embracing a political solution.
A political approach can help resolve the issue of Syrian refugees who are stuck in the neighboring countries. It is a fact that many refugees after escaping disaster in their mother countries, they end up in the neighboring countries. This step is taken by the refugees because they find it easy to relocate to countries nearby. These countries end up absorbing many refugees because they have nowhere else to go. These countries have no obligation under international law to send these refugees back to their home country (Sirkeci, 2017). They are not allowed to make any political decision at the moment when the refugees are infiltrating the country. These countries where the refugees have settled are unable to compel other nations to help them carry the burden. Given this fact, a well-structured political system can help to resolve the issue of Syrian refugees who are held up in the neighborhood. If the other nations of the world can agree to help Syrian refugees in the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan, then the problem can be solved easily.
The European countries are capable of absorbing many refugees from Syria, but they are not willing. They are only ready to take in a small number of refugees. The other challenge with the European countries is that instead of absorbing many numbers they are chasing the refugees from their countries. The European Union has abandoned their border countries like Italy and Greece to carry the burden alone. Germany has recently amended the asylum law, and now it is ready to receive some of these refugees (Betts, 2017). However, these are the only few European countries that are willing to accommodate the Syrian refugees. Other countries in this region are reluctant to absorb the refugees. That is why the refugee problem is still unsolved. If all the countries in the European region can make a political decision to absorb the Syrian refugees that will be the end of the problem.
Data and Statistics
Most of the Syrian refugees are absorbed in the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. These countries are not able to handle the huge numbers of refugees that are coming from Syria. Statistics indicate that approximately seven hundred Syrian refugees are in Jordan. When it comes to Lebanon, the number is close to one million two hundred thousand refugees (Furtak, 2015). Turkey has got one million and eight hundred thousand refugees. These statistics indicate that the neighboring countries cannot handle the huge numbers considering the economic state of these countries. The only viable solution to this situation is for the European countries and the US to take affirmative political action and absorb some of these refugees.
Interpretation of Statistics
This data is valid because the sources are authentic. The information found in the data explains how the refugees are spread in the neighboring countries. This data is also reliable because it explains in detail the number of refugees per country and also the internally displaced people within Syria (Cherri, 2016). However, there are some biases in the information because the immediate neighbor of Syria is Iraq and the number of Syrian refugees in Iraq is minimal compared to those in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
Ethical Outcomes
The ethical outcome of this solution is the moral responsibility of the world’s governments to offer asylum to refugees. This positive ethical outcome ensures that the refugees are well accommodated in the foreign country. Refugees are people who lack proper protection and therefore it is the moral responsibility of various political systems and governments to embrace them so that they can find a place to call home (Block, 2013). The negative ethical outcome is the obligation towards the settled refugees in the camp. It is critical to observe that moral responsibility to settle Syrian refugees through political system is not enough. It is important for the refugees to be taken care off while in the countries of refuge. The negative ethical outcome is when the refugees have been denied basic needs while in the camps.
The moral responsibility of governments to settle refuges attracts various moral issues. One of the positive ethical issues of a political solution to refugee problem is cultural integration. There is always the sharing of cultural values between the refugees and the local people (Block, 2013). The other positive ethical issue is safety and protection that the refugees receive from the host country. The refugees after being absorbed in the foreign country end up enjoying or receiving protection from that country.
One of the ethical issues that emerge as a result of negative ethical outcomes is criminal tendencies. When refugees do not receive proper care while in the refugee camps they revert to committing crimes as a means of livelihood (Block, 2013). The other ethical issue related to the negative ethical outcome is psychological torture. The refugees as a result of abandonment may end up experiencing torture because the hosting government has sidelined them.
Conclusion
The refugee crisis in the world is growing rapidly. Syria is one of the countries that have got a high number of refugees. The Syrian refugees have been absorbed in Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and other European countries. The refugee problem in Syrian has contributed a lot to various societal issues. Many humanitarian agencies have tried to solve the problem, but the situation is still dire. The best way forward is for countries to embrace a political approach to this problem. A political approach is a viable solution to dealing with the refugee crisis.
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