More than 35,000 Syrians fleeing to Turkey in the past several days have been met with a closed border. It was open not long before, but Turkey now claims to have hit refugee capacity.
This latest chapter of turmoil began when Syrian government forces began to encircle the city of Aleppo, a fiercely contested town near the Turkish border, to stamp out various rebel forces.
The new Russian-backed assault threatens to cut off vital supply lines for 300,000 civilians.
In the face of this ominous forecast, the closed border seems like humanitarian indifference, but Turkey is actually providing aid to the amassed crowds and letting them in at a measured rate. And they will open the border if the refugees appear to be in imminent danger.
Syrians are fleeing fighting and airstrikes in Aleppo – but their path is being blocked at the Turkish border:https://t.co/xnoLPyXfKw
— AJ+ (@ajplus) February 10, 2016
In reality, Turkey is the last country that can be accused of indifference when it comes to Syrian refugees.
Countries across the world, most notably in Europe, have complained about their own refugee capacities as soon as refugees began arriving. Unlike many of these countries, Turkey's social services are legitimately strained.
Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, the country has accepted more than 2.5 million Syrians.
Here’s a useful comparison: The US is geographically 10 times the size of Turkey, yet it has taken in around 2,700 Syrian refugees (that’s about 1,000 times less than Turkey).
Now, Turkey shares a large border with Syria, so it makes sense that it would absorb a lot of the war’s collateral damage. Other borders countries--Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq--have taken in a large amount of refugees, too. But outside this border zone, countries have not stepped up to share the burden. This is especially apparent when you look at countries that are not in traveling distance. They have maintained an adamant complacency, avoiding the subject of refugee resettlement as much as possible.
The EU recently committed $3.3 billion USD to Turkey to provide support to Syrian refugees and a donor conference in the UK raised $11 billion USD for Syrians last week.
This will help Turkey and other countries cope with the myriad needs of refugees and the longer-term difficulties of cultural assimilation, but more needs to be done.
As countries around the world continue to search for a resolution to the conflict, they should increase their acceptance of Syrians.
Too many refugees are stuck in overcrowded, resource-deprived camps that put their lives on pause or even at risk. And too many are further risking their lives on perilous sea-borne journeys to Europe.
There is more than enough space in countries around the world to provide refugees with reasonable living accommodations.
Huge parts of Syria are nearly obliterated. Even if the war were to end tomorrow, it would be years before the vast majority of displaced Syrians could resume a normal life in their home country.
This doesn’t have to be the case. Nations around the world can resettle Syrian refugees and help them restart their lives now. Countries everywhere have a long way to go before they hit refugee capacity.
And, at the end of the day, what would a country rather be known for: reaching its capacity to help? Or barely even testing that capacity to begin with?