Refugee crisis

Enkidu

This is a great piece from the LA Times today.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-migrants-los-angeles-20151129-story.html

mickeyrat

Something to consider in this debate.....

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/06/458654757/in-refugee-resettlement-debate-former-soldier-wants-to-put-translators-first?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=202706


When U.S. soldiers and Marines returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, many left behind local translators who they'd worked closely with. These people often became the target of reprisals and death threats, forcing them to flee their own country.

For the past few months, Aaron Fleming, a former Marine sergeant, has been trying to help his former translator, Sami Khazikani, make it to the U.S. after he had to leave Afghanistan. Khazikani's now stuck in limbo in Germany waiting to hear if he'll be given asylum in Europe, get a visa to the U.S., or be sent back to Afghanistan.

"I certainly looked at Sami not only as a key element to our success, operationally speaking, but as a very dear friend," Fleming says, "and whether or not he ever earned the title of Marine, in my mind, he certainly did with us on the battlefield."

Khazikani says he knew at the time that he was signing up for a risky job.

"I wanted to help my country as well as help with the coalition forces because I could speak English," he says. "I knew the consequences but I [didn't] care about it really. But now I only live for my wife and for my child."

It was risky not only because he was working with the U.S. military in a war, but it was also because he might be seen as a traitor by some in his own community. That's exactly what happened and he and his wife were forced to flee, first to Turkey and then to Greece. That's when he got in touch with his old friend.


On how Khazikani eventually left Afghanistan

Most of our interpreters over there, himself included, try to keep their employment history with the coalition forces a secret, you know, for personal safety reasons. And Sami had taken some leave to go home and check up with his fiancé and attend a wedding. At the wedding, a fellow Afghani army soldier, one who had actually been in the unit that we were attached to, recognized Sami, he was also a guest in attendance. He made it no secret exactly who Sami was and what his role was with the coalition forces, which you know, caused quite a bit of an issue up there with his fiancé's family.

His fiancé's family had contacted the village elders to determine what should we do with the situation here. As it turned out, the village elders were closely tied in with the Taliban in that region, so they brought it up to the Taliban.

So they came up with the solution to it which was if they could find Sami they were going to execute him. So he and — Yasmiin, then his fiancé, now his wife – got married in secret at a relative's house and the very next day fled Afghanistan to Turkey ... After about a year of living in Turkey, the Turkish government sent their immigration consulate by and essentially said to all the refugees there, Turkish government cannot support the burden on the economy of hosting you anymore so you need to go, but we're going to put you on a boat to Greece.

On whether the U.S. government owes Khazikani anything

I believe they do. I believe that Sami served the U.S. government faithfully and honorably and very proficiently. And I really genuinely believe that it's time our U.S. government pays Sami back for the time that Sami has served working for us.

To me this is not an immigration problem. This is a refugee problem. And the interpreters who are hired to work for coalition forces go through a very thorough vetting process to ensure continuity in their veracity. And a lot of the background work with these guys has already been completed, it's already done.

If anything, we should not be discussing necessarily the topic about how many Syrian refugees are we going to be taking in, we should be taking a look at those interpreters who are now on refugee status, who have served our government honorably. We should be taking a look at them ahead of anybody else.

dimitrispearljam

The situation is out of control
All this time
4.000 arrive in spain
100.000 at italy
And almost 1.000.0000 in my country
And remember all Greeks we are 10 millions
And 35% of that lives below the limit of poverty...go figure how frikkin difficult is to deal with this wave of refugues
And dont forget..someone can enter here and claim he is from syria and his name is that and same time he can be from avganistan and he is not refugues..impossible to check every person if telling the truth..its madness
And we have to do all dirty work for all europe cos if we dont..they can stop segen deal and all those people not allowed to move in europe and all stay in greece..a country has 30% people with no jobs...
What a wonderful world!

callen

Yeah Dimi it sucks. Greece should be helped financially.

PJ_Soul

Yes, agreed. That is really terrible for Greece, especially now, during an ongoing financial crisis. The rest of the world really needs to come together to help this situation and to relocate those million people. Too bad America and certain European countries are instead engaging in hate speech.

Godfather.

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

mcgruff10

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

Dude I thought the same exact thing!!

PJ_Soul

mcgruff10 said:

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

Dude I thought the same exact thing!!

When could the US not afford something themselves if they wanted to? If you feel the US or American citizens have been in need, it's because your own government don't deem it necessary to help with money that it has. They spent it on the military instead.
However, FYI, I know that Canadians have sent TONS of aid during American disasters, both in the form of civilian donations and social services such as search and rescue crews. Not to mention putting up tens of thousands of you when they were stuck in Canada after 9/11.

ldent42

I googled "foreign aid to the US".
This was the 5th link.
http://listverse.com/2015/01/14/10-surprising-stories-of-the-united-states-receiving-foreign-aid/

I know we got a lot of help during the big natural disasters like Sandy and Katrina. I think it's harder to really see because we hear about the US sending foreign aid as it's generally considered good publicity. The thing is organizations like the Red Cross get donations from all over the world, so it's harder to really quantify incoming aid in all it's formats than it is outgoing aid.

mcgruff10

PJ_Soul said:

mcgruff10 said:

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

Dude I thought the same exact thing!!

When could the US not afford something themselves if they wanted to? If you feel the US or American citizens have been in need, it's because your own government don't deem it necessary to help with money that it has. They spent it on the military instead.
However, FYI, I know that Canadians have sent TONS of aid during American disasters, both in the form of civilian donations and social services such as search and rescue crews. Not to mention putting up tens of thousands of you when they were stuck in Canada after 9/11.

I d love for you to compare the aid we send internationally against what Canada sends.
And i don't want to get into a pissing contest because I m totally in love with everything Canada and thank everything they have done for us but damn pjsoul your post was so damn pompous.

jnimhaoileoin

mcgruff10 said:

PJ_Soul said:

mcgruff10 said:

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

Dude I thought the same exact thing!!

When could the US not afford something themselves if they wanted to? If you feel the US or American citizens have been in need, it's because your own government don't deem it necessary to help with money that it has. They spent it on the military instead.
However, FYI, I know that Canadians have sent TONS of aid during American disasters, both in the form of civilian donations and social services such as search and rescue crews. Not to mention putting up tens of thousands of you when they were stuck in Canada after 9/11.

I d love for you to compare the aid we send internationally against what Canada sends.
And i don't want to get into a pissing contest because I m totally in love with everything Canada and thank everything they have done for us but damn pjsoul your post was so damn pompous.

Pompous seems unfair, she was merely answering the question asked and pointing out that Canada have given aid

PJfanwillneverleave1

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muskydan

JUST A GIRL said:

PJ_Soul said:

Let's try again!

Somehow it's just not the same now.... but I'll try.

The mayor of Vancouver (Gregor Robertson... he's totally and madly obsessed with bike lanes, but I'll give him some credit today) held a town hall meeting so that people could come and discuss what the real options are for those who want to help the refugees, how much it can cost, what it would take, what hoops have to be jumped through, etc. Very good idea I thought. If every mayor of every major city in North America did the same thing, that would probably be very helpful.

They do sometimes. It's fun, I've been to a few.

I don't understand why everyone's expected to allow them in with open arms. We've all seen the rise in violence due to the influx of illegal immigrants in Texas and New Mexico, we all support building a fence to properly screen and validate every person crossing the border, yet when it happens in a third world country, where violence runs rampant, it's expected to be allowed? Shouldn't it be more restricted and validated even more so there?

I don't blame the countries for building fences around their points of entry. I would lay out row after row of barbed wire.

Ask your self honestly if you would be ok with suddenly 100s of Iraqie immigrants living on the same road as your home, living in the yards, bathing and using the rest room in your drive way. I doubt you would be so welcoming after a very short amount of time.

We all want to pretend we would help, but I think deep down we know the truth. At least I'm honest about it. Unlike 99.9% of the rest of the world who doesn't want to "offend" anyone!

Come on man, you are looking for honesty and reality on here??

callen said:

Yeah Dimi it sucks. Greece should be helped financially.

I agree, financial assistance is in order. Thank GOD for big deep Oceans

jnimhaoileoin

Just discovered that Israel is the top recipient of US aid, eeek

23scidoo

https://youtu.be/OLA2qxb-r7I

mcgruff10

jnimhaoileoin said:

Just discovered that Israel is the top recipient of US aid, eeek

Been like that for decades. Check out the aid we send to Pakistan, the hiding spot for bin laden.

callen

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

I didn't say US specifically but here we have Greece struggling financially and they are paying the price by getting all the Syrian refugees.

PJ_Soul

mcgruff10 said:

PJ_Soul said:

mcgruff10 said:

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

Dude I thought the same exact thing!!

When could the US not afford something themselves if they wanted to? If you feel the US or American citizens have been in need, it's because your own government don't deem it necessary to help with money that it has. They spent it on the military instead.
However, FYI, I know that Canadians have sent TONS of aid during American disasters, both in the form of civilian donations and social services such as search and rescue crews. Not to mention putting up tens of thousands of you when they were stuck in Canada after 9/11.

I d love for you to compare the aid we send internationally against what Canada sends.
And i don't want to get into a pissing contest because I m totally in love with everything Canada and thank everything they have done for us but damn pjsoul your post was so damn pompous.

If you think that then you are misinterpreting the point I was trying to make.

dignin

This makes me proud.


Canada’s Warm Embrace of Refugees

The simple but powerful words with which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada greeted the first group of Syrians resettled under an expedited program stood in sharp contrast to the misery and monumental injustice the earlier images represent.

“You are home,” he said when the refugees disembarked in Toronto on Thursday after a 16-hour flight from Beirut. To a man holding a toddler wearing a headband with flowers, he repeated the sentiment: “Welcome to your new home.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/12/opinion/canadas-warm-embrace-of-refugees.html

mickeyrat

Godfather. said:

is there any money given to the US in times of need by other countries ? serious question, I've never heard of any....maybe Japan ?

Godfather.

In short ,yes