According to Mercy Corps, an organization focused on improving lives across the world, 7 million Syrians have been internally displaced since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. 4 million Syrians have escaped to neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, while more than 16 million people are in need of assistance inside and outside of Syria.
As the conflict has evolved over the past five years, other players have become involved in the civil war, and have mostly brought negative effects to Syria. Although the fight has been mostly directed by ISIS, the Free Syrian Army, and the Syrian Armed Forces, other countries still play a role in the fight today.
According to the United Nations, over 250,000 people have died during the war. This high toll of deaths is not only credited to ISIS, the Syrian regime, and the FSA, but the United States and Russia also carry a responsibility.
United States and Russian-led airstrikes supposedly targeted at "terrorist groups" have significantly destroyed much of Syria's infrastructure, which has led to an increased amount of displaced Syrians. Although the United States has played a part in the increase of displaced Syrians, it has also played a tiny role in tackling the refugee issue.
According to the State Department's Refugee Processing Center, only 2,290 Syrian refugees have been relocated somewhere in the United States since the beginning of the civil war. As progress towards accepting more refugees has been shown by the Obama administration, opposing views from Republicans have sparked new debates about Syrian refugees.
As President Obama stated during remarks at the G20 economic summit in Antalya, Turkey, "Slamming the door in [the faces of refugees] would be a betrayal of our values." Obama plans to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees into America by fiscal year 2016, however, other officials are skeptical of this due to the recent Paris attacks.
"The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism," Obama stated. Although there might have been some refugees involved in the Paris attacks, Obama tackles the issue of Syrian refugees, rather than use the attack as an excuse not to help them.
Many Republican governors stated that they would not allow Syrian refugees to enter their states, and want the United States to have stronger border control. Although Obama only stated that he intends on accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees, many current GOP candidates like Trump, exaggerate the number to fuel anti-refugee attitude.
"We have a president that wants to take hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people and move them into our country," Trump stated. While the U.S. is focusing on accepting Syrian refugees, current Republican candidates like Jeb Bush, and Ted Cruz criticize Obama since they want him to only accept Christian refugees.
Many people in America fear that people affiliated with ISIS may enter the United States as refugees. They forget that the United States's refugee admission process is extremely vigorous, which lowers the chances of people affiliated with ISIS to enter the country.
According to CBS news, many interviews conducted among Republican and Democratic candidates showed that all Democratic candidates have agreed to accept Syrian refugees into America. While the majority of Republican candidates have disagreed with the idea of taking refugees into the United States.
As this problem has developed into a discussion about American morals and national security, United States actions towards Syrian refugees have been delayed due to disputes from the Democratic and Republican Parties. As war continues in Syria, and the United States becomes more involved, we will most likely see the United States play a bigger role in the refugee issue.
While other countries in Europe have played a huge role in the Syrian refugee issue, the United States has been suspicious towards accepting Syrian refugees, even though it has contributed to the displacement of many Syrians in Syria. The Syrian refugee issue will surely test American morals, and national security.