Today, CBS News featured IRAP in a segment telling the powerful story of two Syrian women who were able to escape the war to come to the United States with their families. Their families represent some of the lucky few who have managed to find sanctuary in America.
“Both women described their shock after seeing images of the 3-year-old Syrian boy, who drowned while fleeing war at home,” reports CBS News. “They said they know many people who crossed the Mediterranean Sea… ‘We had a choice to go on the sea,’ said Alia. ‘This is an option Syrians are doing ….The husband will risk his life on a boat … and if he has a little bit of money he will take his family with him on the ocean. And they would die in the water. … What would happen is the same thing that happened to the small child that we saw.'”
CBS News interviewed IRAP’s Policy Director, Katie Reisner, for the story. “Every year the president sets the ceiling of the number of refugees that we can accept,” explains Reisner. “Last year it was 70,000. Now it’s projected to be 75,000 next year. But you compare this to the 1 million refugees who are in urgent need of resettlement and it’s not enough. The most feasible solution is to utilize the system that exists but expand and improve it to really reflect the scope of the crisis.”
You can watch the full CBS News segment here. Please remember to share it with your networks using the hashtags #Syria, #SyrianRefugees, and #RefugeesWelcome to help amplify the impact of this story.
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