Four million Syrians have been displaced, yet the United States has legally admitted less than 2,000

Credit: Bulent Kilic/Getty

Though Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, American media has only begun covering the refugee crisis that has derived from this disaster. The mayhem in Syria has left about 250,000 dead, and half of the country displaced, with 4 million Syrians fleeing as refugees. Many resettled in wretched refugee camps in neighboring countries, such as Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, and thousands have risked death in hopes of finding a better life in Europe.

It took an image of a 3-year-old Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach to prompt the world to care about the issue. Even so, the debate over whether or not Syrian refugees should be let into the United States is ongoing, and many argue the U.S. government isn't doing enough to help their plight.


Syrians are seeking refuge in other countries as a result of civil war and the rise of ISIS

Since late 1970, the Assad family has ruled Syria in a brutal dictatorship, and current leader Bashar al-Assad has been in power since 2000.

Several different ethnic and religious groups were placed under one leadership when the country was formed. The Assads, who are Shia Alawites, have treated the Sunni Arabs, the largest demographic, like second class citizens.

According to BBC, when the people were fed up and the Arab Spring protests began in 2011, Syrian security forces opened fire on peaceful protestors in the city of Deraa, killing three. Citizens took up arms to protect themselves, and by 2012 Syria was in an all out civil war. At the same time, extremist group ISIS, who also opposed Assad, began gaining momentum.

Civilians quickly became the biggest victims of violence in Syria. According to Vox, Assad targets them with barrel bombs and chemical weapons, and ISIS, when they take over towns, puts them under brutal rule. The result is millions of Syrians seeking refuge in other countries, some more willing to take them than others.

Image of dead Syrian child may have been turning point in media coverage of refugee crisis

On Wednesday September 2, publications such as The Guardian published a shocking image of a three-year-old Syrian boy after his body washed up on a Turkish beach— he was one of at least 23 Syrians who drowned that day in an attempt to reach Greece.

Image of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi that shook the internet
credit: Reuters 

Thousands of Syrians are seeking refuge in Europe to escape violence and persecution, leading to a surge in tragedies—On August 27, for example, the bodies of 71 refugees were found abandoned in the back of a truck Austria, reported Al Jazeera.

But when a three-year-old boy was found washed up on a Turkish beach, journalists had to decide how this story should be covered, for the images stir such emotional responses. The general manager for National Geographic digital, Keith Jenkins, told NPR that his thoughts instantly turned to his own children.

"Taking a step back and thinking about the refugee crisis that has been unfolding for months, if not years, this felt like a moment in time that stopped everything and really said, 'This is a turning point,'" Jenkins said. "This is a point where people may pay attention in a different way."

Journalism professor at the University of Maryland says the media discussion has shifted since this image published. Now she sees more coverage of the plight of the refugees who are trying to resettle, whereas before the focus was more on how Syrians were dealing with the conflict domestically.

Questions were raised over whether or not this picture was appropriate for news organizations to publish. American news organizations tend to be especially reluctant to post violent images, and some fear an image like this has the potential to scare people away from the real meaning behind the story.

Regardless, this images was spread through social media at a speed quicker than the mainstream media outlets could catch up to. It was this image, rather than the written word of news organizations, that told the story of the Syrian refugees who died on this day.

Guha commends the news organizations that made the decision to publish this photo. "It helped a discussion on the issue," she said. "Refugees from Syria are fleeing their country for the past so many years, but there has not been much focus from the media, or global or political discussion on the matter." Guha says this particular image really helped to focus people on the issue.

Head of the media desk at the Guardian told NPR this image wasn't just emotional, but especially meaningful at a time when world leaders are clashing over how to handle the refugee crisis. "It really did put a human face on this awful humanitarian crisis. It has the power to change the nature of the debate on what is happening and what our reaction should be and how we should deal with it," Martinson said.

Guha discussed what the impacts of the photo were on her class of 30 students, and said the image prompted most of the students to sympathize with the refugees. "I think this image helped to bring the discussion in the public sphere," she said. "And it's changing peoples' opinions."

CEO of Save the Children, Justin Forsyth, told the Guardian, "This tragic image of a little boy who's lost his life fleeing Syria is shocking and is a reminder of the dangers children and families are taking in search of a better life. This child's plight should concentrate minds and force the EU to come together and agree to a plan to tackle the refugee crisis."

The United States lags behind other countries in numbers of Syrian refugees admitted 

Syria's neighboring countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq host the majority of displaced Syrians but are finding it difficult to cope with this influx of people. As a result, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has called on Western countries to offer resettlement opportunities to Syrian refugees.

According to the New York Times, the United States has only admitted 1,854 Syrian refugees since 2012, 0.05 percent of all Syrian refugees worldwide.

Other countries with much smaller populations have accepted many more refugees than the United States has, and have also been making more efforts to protect them. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, said her country will now allow Syrian refugees, who would otherwise be deported back to wherever they originally entered the European Union, to stay in Germany and apply for asylum, EurActiv reported.

After the terrorist attacks in Paris that left at least 128 people dead, at least 28 American governors have publicly opposed the entry of Syrian refugees into their states. The governors statements have little effect considering they cannot legally prohibit refugees from settling within their borders, but they do have the power to make migrants' lives difficult once they arrive.

Guha thinks that the upcoming election season is making political rhetoric around the issue more complicated. Almost all governors who refuse to accept Syrian refugees are Republicans, and according to the Washington Post, presidential candidate Jeb Bush has called for Syrians to be screened by religion. "We should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees on the Christians that are being slaughtered," he said.

President Obama, however, has raised the number of Syrian refugees who will be granted legal status to at least 10,000 by 2017, and said the Paris attacks will not change his plans to do so.

During a press conference conference in Turkey, Obama said "We also have to remember that many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves. That's what they're fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values." He said it is possible to welcome refugees without threatening the security of our nation.

Guha believes more refugees should be admitted entry into the United States. "They are in desperate situations, so they need help from the countries that consider themselves world leaders," she said.

It is the United State's history of immigration and the symbols of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty that everyone should keep in mind, she says. Thousands of Syrian refugees, including hundreds of children, have died in search of a better life, but the debate over whether or not they should be admitted into the United States continues.