Shelbie Harris
News Editor
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is a well-known phrase in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, but unfortunately the power of these words can become lost in translation when you look at what is happening in non-democratic societies across the globe.
A society such as Syria is a prime example.
“In 2011 the Arab Spring demonstration that occurred in the Middle East led to massacres of the Syrian population,” said Hamid Durrani, a student consultant assistant with the International Programs Office and senior political science major. “Once the massacres started, different factions and rebel groups took advantage of the situation in order to gain power.”
It is unknown how many rebel groups formed because of the massacres, but experts say there could be 1,000 different groups, with an estimated 100,000 fighters.
What is known, is the Middle Eastern country has been crippled by a brutal civil war ever since.
The United Nations estimates more than 220,000 people have died in the clashes and more than 4 million people have fled Syria to neighboring countries, half of those being children.
Every day refugees stream across the borders of Syria to neighboring nations of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.
“Of the 220,000 people who have died, over half of them have been civilians,” said Durrani. “More than 7.6 million people are displaced both internally and outside the borders.”
This is one of the largest refugee movements in recent history.
Many of the refugees are among the tens of thousands who have been arriving in Europe in an attempt to escape daily conflict.
“The crisis in Europe is getting bigger and bigger,” said Durrani, adding, “because the people who have fled into Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey are now wanting to get into Europe somehow so they can look for a better life.”
The journey these refuges make across land and sea is often very dangerous, however, the alternative of choosing to remain in a nation under heavy duress could be more deadly.
Daniel Hummel, an assistant professor of political science for ISU recently traveled to Jordan in March 2015 and said the refugee situation there was tremendous, with millions of people nestled in small communities outside the city.
“I saw that the Obama administration was initially going to bring in 1,500 refugees [to America] but then Obama wants this number extended to 10,000,” said Hummel.
“Some portion of those refugees will end up in Twin Falls, and the local community over there is already open arms regarding the situation.”
There are no students from Syria currently enrolled at ISU, however as America continues to assist with the refugee crisis, this number may change in the future.
“I would think that adding some of these refugees to our population would be an extreme benefit to the United States,” said Hummel.
“Have them come into some of these communities that might be losing population or stagnating and actually have them take on entrepreneurial roles and create small businesses to help grow the local community.”
