“… the worst of winter is yet to come for 2.2 million refugees living outside Syria and millions more displaced inside the country.
A storm named Alexa is sweeping across Syria and Lebanon, bringing with it high winds and freezing temperatures – and marking the beginning of the third winter since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011…
Men filled bags with dirt to hold down tents and placed car tires and bricks atop the flimsy wooden structures to prevent the wind from tearing them apart.
In Lebanon, more that 835,000 refugees live in tented camps, unused buildings or with friends or family. The Lebanese government has decided not to house them in formal camps due to local sensitivities that they will stay permanently.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has issued a report slamming the countries of the European Union for only being willing to take in 12,000 of the Syrian refugees.
Amnesty’s main points:
”
Only 10 EU member states offered resettlement or humanitarian admission places to refugees from Syria.
Germany is by far the most generous – pledging to take 10,000 refugees or 80 per cent of total EU pledges.
Excluding Germany, the remaining 27 EU member states have offered to take a mere 2,340 refugees from Syria.
France offered just 500 places or 0.02 per cent of the total number of people who have fled Syria.
Spain agreed to take just 30 or 0.001 per cent of refugees from Syria.
Eighteen EU member states – including the UK and Italy – offered no places at all.”
Oxfam USA has a contribution page for Syrian refugees here
There is one thing that Europeans could learn from the USA. That is how to integrate immigrants faster and at less cost in to their own societies. It does not have to be a losing proposition for those countries that immigrants and refugess.
Perhaps a short term incovience but with longer term paybacks.
Tragic! RT : Syrian Refugees’ Misery deepened by Snow Storm as Europe Shuts Doors – link to t.co link to t.co
Mr. Cole. First of all my deep congratulations about your fantastic website and your free and independent approach here. But i cannot agree with the part of your posting that is commenting how generous are countries like Germany. We in Bulgaria have more syrian refugees then France and Germany. Countries like France set “limit” of the maximum refugees they’re willing to provide shelter of. To the end of this year in Bulgaria we’re expecting the total number of refugees to enlarge to 10-12k. which for a country like ours is very, very much. We don’t have the capacity to take more then 2-3k., but we never said something like France – “we take 2k. and more” and what is true is that France is one of the countries which have a big hand in the “civil” war in Syria which is nothing more than funded by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and supported by NATO and USA islamist versus the Dictator – alAssad.
Statement by Turkish PM Erdogan (pronounced Er-Do-Wan) to the International Community on Syrian refugees during this winter:
link to worldbulletin.net
Now, when will “the West” begin to understand that he should not meddle in countries’ internal affairs if he isn’t then prepared to go all the way and pick up the fallout from such power games? So far the record in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria does not look very convincing. Not really what Western philosophers call the “greatest good for the greatest many”.