The ‘Tempest-tost’ Syrian Refugees
its predecessor in Iraq, the “regime change” war in Syria has killed
hundreds of thousands and uprooted millions more, with many now seeking
refuge in the West. But political forces have resisted providing safe
haven, an affront to international law, writes Marjorie Cohn at
Truthdig.
By Marjorie Cohn
Many
of us are familiar with the Emma Lazarus poem on a plaque at the base
of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming
shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp
beside the golden door!”
These words,
written in the late Nineteenth Century, depicted the United States as a
refuge for people who had crossed the Atlantic seeking a new home and a
better life than they experienced in the places they left behind. The
current massive humanitarian crisis in the Middle East, which has
created a flood of refugees exiting Syria, obliges our country to live
up to the welcome promised in that poem.
