With approximately four million refugees fleeing Syria and upwards of eight million internally displaced, the Syrian refugee crisis is becoming increasingly historic in scale as the anguish and death count only increases.
According to a press release issued by the UNHCR on July 9, the civil war in Syria has produced “the world’s single largest refugee crisis for almost a quarter of a century under UNHCR’s mandate.” While nations and their political leaders have been seeking to find solutions through institutional change, Yale is also working to create positive impact.
Student organizations, researchers, and Yale departments are actively working on several different levels to implement change by raising awareness, continuing research, and delving into other forms of activism. Just last week, a panel with representatives from organizations such as UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders convened to confront the child-refugee crisis.
On Yale’s campus, there are several student-run organizations that have devoted themselves to raising awareness and support for refugees in Syria. These clubs include the Yale Refugee Project, an organization that assists refugee families in their adjustment to America, and Students Organize for Syria (SOS), a group that engages in activism, advocacy, and change in Syria.
Ishrat Manna, DC ’17, and Zunaira Arshad, BR ’17, Co-Presidents of SOS, highlight the importance of information dissemination. Students should serve as sort of conduit, Manna said, by finding ways to connect our studies, draw attention to, or advocate for understanding the various refugee crises in the world. “As students, …we have the power to make an indelible mark and shape what others care for and are concerned about,” Manna said.
Though public outreach through newspapers, radio and other communication platforms will be critical, a plenitude of Yale resources exists for those interested in direct action, Arshad said. New Haven’s Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services, which welcomesand helps to resettle refugees, has assisted four families from the Syrian Crisis, and has worked closely with Yale students and researchers.
Another resource that the University offers to refugees is the Yale Center for Asylum Medicine. The Center is responsible for conducting medical forensics for asylum seekers to provide evidence in support of their application for asylum. They collaborate with IRIS and other organizations to expedite the process of resettlement.
According to Kate McKenzie, who directs the Center, there has not been a large influx of Syrian refugees since the onset of the crisis. She said that, in the wake of refugee crises, the increase in the volume of refugees is not usually immediate. Various State Department regulations like background checks can extensively delay passage into the United States. At this time, the majority of refugees are flooding into Turkey, Jordan, and other countries in the EU.
Though the Center does a lot of critical work for other refugees, it has only processed three or four Syrians, Mckenzie said, though they expect to see more through the Center in the future.
“The Center is currently less clinically relevant [to the Syrian refugee crisis] and is engaging in more public outreach initiatives,” Mckenzie said. “However, this might change in the future.”
As an academic institution, there is a grand opportunity to assist refugees in the form of research. Yale students have an opportunity to contribute to the cause by studying engineering technology that can help in high-risk areas. Students can study effective global health strategies, international law and human rights, psychosocial support, and more, Manna said.
Mckenzie echoed this sentiment. “The unique role that Yale can play as an academic institution is to produce research, evidence, and scholarly work to influence policy and ultimately help Syrian refugees,” she said.
Several Yale researchers and academics have suggested that the U.S. can accommodate more refugees, and that the West has not done enough to ameliorate the crisis. Political Science Professor Margaret Peters has advocated that migration be taught as a subject in International Relations in light of the crisis. Unni Karunakara, the former international president of Doctors Without Borders and senior fellow at the Jackson Institute, has also spoken up about the shortcomings of the international community.
According to Karunakara, many countries in the EU have made it “extraordinarily difficult” for refugees to actually find asylum; dangerous journeys, delays both at the border and during registration can seriously harm the health and wellbeing of refugees.
As signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, which guaranteed refugees the right to seek asylum and protection against forcible return, the members of the EU have a legal and moral obligation to Syrian refugees, Karunakara said. Though some countries like Sweden and Germany have been more welcoming to refugees, Karunakara said that the international community, including the U.S., Russia, The Arab Nations, China and India, can and must do more to address the crisis.
By participating in advocacy, research, and more, Yale has found a place in this worldwide humanitarian conflict. Every member of this community should ask where they fit in and how they can contribute, engage, or make a change. “Caring and contributing to this cause in any way you can is powerful,” Ashad said. “The international community must do more, the West must do more, and Yale must do more.”