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The UN announced last week that over three million, or almost one in two, Syrians are now refugees.

Photos by AP

The UN announced last week that over three million, or almost one in two, Syrians are now refugees. Since violence in the country began three years ago, the United States has only taken in less than 200 of them.

While the number of refugees has topped three million, only 5,000 have registered and been resettled according to Oxfam. 10.8 million people are left behind in Syria, facing ongoing violence and civilian attacks.

Most Syrians have fled to nearby countries, with 1.17 million in Lebanon, 830,000 in Turkey, and 613,000 in Jordan. Others have registered in Iraq and Egypt, and an unknown number has died trying to leave Syria.

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The West has generally failed to support the millions of Syrians fleeing in the process of finding a new home. Germany has done better than anywhere else, pledging to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees. The country currently has 6,000 registered. The UK has registered 50, and the US nearly 200.

The US has severely restricted immigrant visas to 70,000 total, with only about 30,000 offered to Syria’s region of Southeast Asia. Security restrictions post-911 further complicate allowing Syrians in due to regional laws defined by terrorism’s landscape.

The Syrian refugee crisis is only growing. The UN High Commission on Refugees is running on half of its usually donor funding. The organization is working alongside Oxfam and a coalition of other organizations, but is drowning in refugee criss worldwide including those in South Sudan and Iraq.


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