Bauschard Debate 9/25/15 5: 06 pm refugees Pre-Release

Failure to help refugees is a moral failure

Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, Refugees Who Could Be Us, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/06/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-refugees-who-could-be-us.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0 DOA: 9-22-15

Granted, assimilating refugees is difficult. It’s easy to welcome people at the airport, but more complex to provide jobs and absorb people with different values. (In Jordan, I once visited a refugee family hoping for settlement in the United States and saw a poster of Saddam Hussein on the wall; I wondered how that adjustment would go.) In any case, let’s be clear that the ultimate solution isn’t to resettle Syrians but to allow them to go home. “Stopping the barrel bombs will save more refugees dying on the route to Europe than any other action, because people want to return to live in their homes,” noted Lina Sergie Attar, a Syrian-American writer and architect. There has been a vigorous public debate about whether the photo of Aylan’s drowned body should be shown by news organizations. But the real atrocity isn’t the photo but the death itself — and our ongoing moral failure to save the lives of children like Aylan.

Moral and humanitarian obligation to accept more refugees. US must lead

Associated Press, 9-21-15, Kerry says US will take in 85,000 refugees next year; 100,000 in ’17, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/09/21/kerry-says-us-will-take-85000-refugees-next-year-100000-in-17/ DOA: 9-22-15

After months of dithering as Europe struggles to take in tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in their homeland, the U.S. finally agreed over the weekend to increase the number of refugees it would admit to this country for resettlement. The U.S. isn't responsible for the brutal, three-sided civil conflict that has forced some 4 million Syrians to seek refuge outside their country. But it can no longer avoid addressing the crisis; not only is it the right thing to do on humanitarian and moral grounds, it's also vital that the U.S. show the kind of principled leadership that the rest of the world can respect. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. will raise the number of refugees it accepts annually from around the world from 70,000 to 100,000 over the next two years, including some 10,000 Syrians the White House has proposed admitting next year. Given the hundreds of thousands of Syrians expected to arrive in the E.U. this year alone, those numbers are a drop in the bucket. Compare our efforts to those of Germany, which is preparing to resettle at least 800,000 refugees by the end of the year. The U.S. could surely do better than the token increase it announced, but at least it's a start.

Moral obligation to help refugees, economic benefits irrelevant

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In deciding what to do, the EU must draw a distinction between refugees and immigrants. Countries have legal and moral obligations to refugees. They do not have such obligations to other immigrants. Compassion for the desperate has to be distinct from a cooler assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of immigration. It may be helpful to argue that refugees could provide economic benefits to the recipient country. In many cases, no doubt, resourceful people who so much want to enter will do just that. But that is not the reason why they should be accepted.

Morality – Golden Rule

We should follow the Golden Rule when dealing with refugees

Arizona Central, September 24, 2015, Pope Francis Urges Congress to Show Compassion for Immigrants, http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2015/09/24/pope-francis-urges-congress-show-compassion-immigrants/72734356/ DOA: 9-25-15

In doing so, the pope appealed to the United States' time-honored reputation as a nation of immigrants.

"We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were at once foreigners," said Pope Francis, the first-ever leader of the Roman Catholic Church to address U.S. senators and representatives. "I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descendants of immigrants."

Citing the global refugee crisis as well as immigration to the United States from Mexico and Central America, the pope, who was often interrupted by applause, reminded lawmakers of the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

He also told the joint session on Capitol Hill that immigrants are looking for a better life for themselves and their loved ones, which is the same that anyone would want for their children.

"We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," the pope said. "To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays, to discard whatever proves troublesome."

The Golden Rule guides in "a clear direction," he said.
"Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated," Pope Francis said. "Let us seek for others the same possibilities which we seek for ourselves. Let us help others to grow, as we would like to be helped ourselves.

"In a word, if we want security, let us give security," he continued. "If we want life, let us give life. If we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities."