Speech #1140102202

We cannot allow the wearying repetition of the horrors to numb our ability to think of each individual and each family as people just like ourselves. struggling to cope with unbearable circumstances. Closer to home. rising numbers of people fleeing gang and other violence in Central America have contributed wider displacement across the wider region. Nearly 110.000 refugees and asylum seekers have come from El Salvador. Guatemala. and Honduras to Mexico and the United States. representing a more than fivefold increase over three years. The relentless. horrifying violence of the Syrian conflict is perhaps the most shocking. By the end of 2015. there were close to 5 million Syrian refugees worldwide. an increase of 1 million men. women. and children within one year. After 5 years of war. the situation is increasingly desperate for both the refugees and host countries such as Jordan. Lebanon. Turkey and Iraq. It is hard to comprehend the demographic. economic. and social impact of millions of refugees on these host countries. The number of refugees in Lebanon. for instance. would be equivalent to 88 million new refugees arriving in the United States. The futures of millions of Syrian children are being stolen because they have no access to education. In the tiny country of Lebanon alone. there are over 300.000 Syrian refugee children who have no access to school. Over 2 million Syrian women are in the neighboring countries trying to survive. Dangerous coping mechanisms are on the rise. More and more families are forced to send their children to work or marry off their young daughters. While contributing generously to humanitarian funding. the United States has only accepted about 2.850 Syrian refugees to date. Because Syrians are finding it increasingly difficult to find safety. they are being forced to move further afield. Hundreds of thousands of people. most from Syria. have crossed the Mediterranean in boats in search of protection in Europe.