https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Tue, 05 May 2026 15:50:08 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363590 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 16:47:20 +0000 yoursilverlining 2363590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: &lt;cheers&gt; for your post. People don't actually want to help end homelessness - that is so true. Not if it costs them any time, money, effort or resources. Or *might* cost them those things. It also galls me to NO END to see most of these posts about how we should help our homeless veterans first and not refugees coming from the same political party which has squarely voted down more than 5 efforts in the past 5 years that would have directly impacted and reduced veteran homelessness, all because they were put forward by the other political party - even though some, like the 2010 Homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children act - had broad multi-party support originally. All because God forbid you work with Obama. But yes, please tell me again how much you really care about homelessness in America and how you think it should be ended. Please tell me what you've done to help homeless veterans in the past 5 years, especially after defeating every bill aimed at helping them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363519 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 16:20:04 +0000 .twist. 2363519@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@jedeve: Oh yes. This only started social media waves once people a. found out we were bringing in more refugees than originally planned; and b. the Paris attacks happened. It is not about homelessness, it's about finding an excuse and a reason NOT to take on refugees. These people are throwing words at their computer screens and not actually getting off their asses to do anything and I just can't even take it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363440 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 15:45:33 +0000 jedeve 2363440@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: ugh, the homeless thing. My masters thesis was on homelessness. People"like" to "help" homeless people by giving them socks at Christmas and tut tutting the rest of the year. The "we have to help our own poor first" argument drives me crazy. There are awful horrors of being homeless (I've watched grown men with cancer cry after a college student spit on them). But people saying shit like that don't really want to help homeless people. Why? Because it's easier to pretend like it's some insurmountable problem that the socks just don't seem to be helping, but aww shucks will try again next year. There is tons of research on how to actually end homelessness. It wasn't such a problem in the U.S. until the 1980s when community health centers were defended and single room occupancy housing was done away with. Then homelessness increased something like six fold. Housing first models have done wonders in reducing homelessness. Why aren't they more common? Because people don't actually like helping. People don't like helping people who they don't think of as deserving. And it really gets my goat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363337 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 14:42:08 +0000 lamariniere 2363337@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@cookiemomster: here's another good article about the possible economic impact of the Syrian refugees. <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-economics-of-syrian-refugees?intcid=mod-latest" rel="nofollow">http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-economics-of-syrian-refugees?intcid=mod-latest</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363134 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 13:11:58 +0000 .twist. 2363134@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@erinbaderin: I saw that one! So, so, true. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363128 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 13:10:04 +0000 erinbaderin 2363128@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Synchronicity: I shared this post on Facebook, from somebody named Hijal De Sarkar, that might help you respond to comments:</p> <p>I acknowledge that good, well-meaning people who genuinely care about Syrian refugees can have perfectly valid concerns about the security risk of bringing in tens of thousands of people from a war zone. It is as large an undertaking as it sounds. </p> <p>So, I did some research and here are some facts: </p> <p>1. Refugees coming to Canada will undergo three separate screening processes. </p> <p>First, they are selected from those screened by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. The UNHCR uses sophisticated anti-fraud tools like biometrics. </p> <p>Second, they are interviewed before coming to Canada. </p> <p>Third, once in Canada, they are screened by Canada's security services. </p> <p>Thanks to these precautions, security experts say the chances of an ISIS terrorist getting through are infinitesimal. </p> <p>2. Canada is prioritizing families (particularly female-headed households), unaccompanied minors and the sick, not single individuals. </p> <p>These groups were selected because they pose the least risk of radicalization. </p> <p>3. Not accepting refugees is an even greater threat to national security. </p> <p>According to leading experts in national security, terrorism, radicalization and intelligence like Munk School of Public Affairs Prof. Wesley Wark and Georgetown University Prof. Anne Speckhard, filthy and unsafe refugee camps are hotbeds for extremism. </p> <p>Perhaps not surprisingly, terrorists find it remarkably easy to recruit fighters in squalid and hopeless camps teeming with desperate and disenfranchised people. </p> <p>According to Prof. Speckhard: “Experience from many conflict zones teaches us that the longer these refugees are left to languish in despair in camps the more prone they become to radicalization.”</p> <p>4. Accepting refugees strikes a blow at ISIS. </p> <p>ISIS relies on extortion and the taxes they collect from the vast swaths of territory they control. “They want to stop the refugee process because one of their main sources of income in the ISIS-controlled territory is taxation of the people there, extortion of the people there," according to University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes. </p> <p>If, in light of these new facts, you still want to talk about security as a reason for keeping Syrian refugees out, you need to acknowledge that you're not afraid of terrorists, you're afraid of brown people. </p> <p><a href="http://globalnews.ca/…/should-canada-stop-bringing-in-syri…/" rel="nofollow">http://globalnews.ca/…/should-canada-stop-bringing-in-syri…/</a></p> <p><a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/…/how-dragging-our-feet-on-refuge…" rel="nofollow">http://mobile.nytimes.com/…/how-dragging-our-feet-on-refuge…</a></p> <p><a href="http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/trudeau-wants-to-stick-to-jan-1-…" rel="nofollow">http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/trudeau-wants-to-stick-to-jan-1-…</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363082 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 12:43:56 +0000 Jess1483 2363082@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>2% of refugees are men of fighting age. I found this article really interesting.</p> <p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/17/3-important-facts-about-how-the-u-s-resettles-syrian-refugees/" rel="nofollow">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/17/3-important-facts-about-how-the-u-s-resettles-syrian-refugees/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363052 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 12:24:16 +0000 Synchronicity 2363052@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: a thousand times yes to everything you said. The comments I've seen on social media... I have zero patience for it at this point. We are SO incredibly lucky to have been born in Canada, and most of us don't have the slightest clue about what these people have gone through. Show some fucking compassion. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2363004 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:52:58 +0000 avivoca 2363004@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: Thanks for posting that article. It just reaffirms to me what a-holes people in this country are being. If France, the country who was terrorized just last week, can put aside their pain and help those who need help, why can't we? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees/page/2#post-2362989 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:42:51 +0000 JoJoGirl 2362989@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Maysprout: Yep, i totally agree. I mean with no welfare, food stamps, etc. And I'd support them utilizing those programs too, if they needed them.</p> <p>Anyone else see this today? <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/18/france-says-it-will-take-30000-syrian-refugees-while-u-s-republicans-would-turn-them-away/" rel="nofollow">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/18/france-says-it-will-take-30000-syrian-refugees-while-u-s-republicans-would-turn-them-away/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362974 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:36:19 +0000 MrsSCB 2362974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Totally agree. I've been seeing people say, "Well, we should take care of the homeless vets first!" And I just want to respond, "Oh, so NOW you care about homeless vets? Interesting, because you didn't seem to care much about homeless/struggling people in this country when you were ranting about how we should cut welfare and other social programs because they enable lazy people...." But, you know, that's probably another story for another day :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362937 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:21:42 +0000 Maysprout 2362937@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JoJoGirl: you say with no public assistance but we have public schools and some healthcare safety net, programs for homeless and people on low income. Refugees come to the U.S. and Europe because of our social programs. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps is great but societies need a safety net and it's fine and good for refugees to use them. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362905 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 11:03:53 +0000 .twist. 2362905@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Exactly. They are not at all mutually exclusive. Our homeless population isn't perfectly taken care of, but people are certainly trying. Every single day they try. There are a ton of social programs here (in Canada) to integrate these people back into society. There are no social programs to help out Syrian refugees in their country. No drop in centres for them that are safe. I'm sure every country has internal problems that they could "fix" before they deal with refugees, so why let anyone in at all!? </p> <p>I know, for me, I sure as fuck hope if I were in their shoes, someone would take me in despite all the other crap on their plate.</p> <p>Sorry for the rant. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362871 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 10:53:29 +0000 lamariniere 2362871@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: thank you for sharing your story. That is precisely why I hope governments and communities are thinking ahead to plan, not only for taking in refugees but helping them settle and integrate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362869 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 10:53:22 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2362869@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@.twist.: I can't dismiss how awful we are to people in this country - our vets, our senior citizens. We have so many problems here and I completely agree that we should be taking care of them. But these things are not mutually exclusive. We've been doing a crap job of taking care of our own for years, bringing in refugees that are looking for a roof over their head isn't going to make it any worse. We need to step it up in every way and stop making these things so absolutist. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362865 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 10:51:52 +0000 JoJoGirl 2362865@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Thank you. I have a few friends who came with the same wave that you did and are equally horrified by the political climate today. My closest friend spent 2 years in a German refugee camp as a teenager waiting to gain entrance to the US - her mom and sister were still in the USSR, she and her Dad in Germany. Split up for years. They were eventually reunited here, also with no public assistance whatsoever, and went on to be super successful and resilient adults. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362852 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 10:46:05 +0000 .twist. 2362852@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Seriously, your story upsets me. I'm sorry that you had to go through that and I can't even imagine. I have people on facebook wondering what about OUR homeless people? Let's take care of them first, and I'm just so infuriated by that. Yes, homelessness is a problem, but having cities that are entirely rubble... I just wonder, where the fuck do they want these people to go? Our homeless communities have shelters and social programs. What do these refugees have? NOTHING. Fucking nothing. </p> <p>I'm so damn upset about how people are acting. I will do anything I can to help any refugee I come across, whether it's intentional or otherwise. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362823 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 10:35:51 +0000 Golden Rule 2362823@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: Thank you so much for sharing your story.</p> <p>Have you guys seen this? Google has a new fortune telling feature. (Doesn't seem like it's related to the topic, but just trust me and just click on it)<br /> <a href="http://betagoogle.com/" rel="nofollow">http://betagoogle.com/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362708 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:57:48 +0000 looch 2362708@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lawbee11: So now, they've set a precedent, by moving the family to another state. I am worried for that family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362702 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:55:12 +0000 Maysprout 2362702@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: that's terrible. My neighbor works with refugees and they've found 3-5 American families are required per refugee family to really help support them and build a new life. they all chip in financial support for activities for the kids and daycare as well as do lots of babysitting themselves. And most families need drivers and temporary housing and help with job searches. They do a great job and still the families have such an uphill battle because it's trying to start life over on super speed. so communities do need to offer more support to refugees. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362694 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:53:03 +0000 Ms maths 2362694@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our mayor has pledged an open door to Syrian refugees. I hope that our city can help! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362620 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:31:16 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2362620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I came to the US as a refugee in the early 90s. This perception that refugees are a drain on the economy, a threat to safety, it's so god-awfully misguided and wrong. Refugees are running from awful things - I could tell you horrifying stories of what my father lived through as a Jew in Soviet Russia in the late 80s/early 90s before we finally left, and they're nothing compared to what the Syrians are running from.Refugees coming to other countries with nothing. Literally nothing. My parents and my brother and I had maybe a suitcase each, that's it. They had maybe a couple hundred dollars, which was their entire life savings at the time. All they wanted was a better life, and they worked their asses off to get it. I watched my dad close his head in the refrigerator after 12 hour shifts at a convenience store because he was so tired. My brother and I nearly raised ourselves form the time we came here to the time my parents finally settled down enough and got full time 9-5ish jobs, because they worked so much, and even then they continued to pick up extra jobs, work weekends, etc. No one ever gave us anything for free. We lived without medical insurance for years. We were called commies and all sorts of names in school. We rarely spoke Russian with each other at school or even on the street for fear of getting yelled at for not assimilating. I don't wish that experience on anyone, and mine, compared to what the Syrians are going through right now is a cakewalk. I got called a commie, but whatever. They have to deal with being seen as terrorists and being feared, even though they just want their kids to not be living under bombs. They're drowning and dying just to make it to a better life for themselves and their kids. Until you've lived it, you have absolutely no idea how awful that life is, and to turn a blind eye and say well, what if, it's just so atrocious to me. My dad would likely be dead if the US said no to us when we came - the white supremacists would have killed him as he was coming home from work one day (that nearly happening is what finally spurred us to leave). I thank God for those who didn't turn us away, and I hope that this country continues to be the one that saved my dad's life rather than the ignorant masses I'm seeing all over Facebook today. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362619 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:31:10 +0000 cookiemomster 2362619@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"</p> <p>We are a country founded by people who were fleeing oppression, and that so many have forgotten this or think their ancestors somehow had more right than these people is frankly mind boggling. </p> <p>As for concerns about resources, there's an excellent episode of the podcast planet money that explains that while concerns aren't entirely invalid, more people needing jobs Also means more people buying goods and services. They look at an instance of Cuban refugees coming to Miami that actually significantly improved that economy. Food for thought. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362595 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:23:19 +0000 blackbird 2362595@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@lamariniere: Yes precisely! And these were likely individuals who were self sufficient in their own country...now they're completely reliant on, essentially, the kindness of others. That's very hard for many to accept. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362533 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:09:22 +0000 mrsjyw 2362533@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, of course! I know it's not just a simple answer, but seriously what do we have as human beings if not love and compassion. It's the lack of value for human life that is just so saddening to me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362527 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 09:05:02 +0000 lawbee11 2362527@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: “While that’s not the governor’s purview to do that they indicated at the state level that they wouldn’t provide services,” Miller told the Guardian. “We were not sure what it would mean for this family and we didn’t want them to be caught in the eye of the storm and not receive the services and benefits that they needed.”</p> <p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/19/connecticut-welcomes-syrian-refugee-family-indiana-governor-says-no" rel="nofollow">http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/19/connecticut-welcomes-syrian-refugee-family-indiana-governor-says-no</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362513 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 08:58:27 +0000 looch 2362513@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So explain to me, then how Indiana has refused a family, if the federal government has the authortity to place people in any state. </p> <p>I assume they did it by refusing to provide state funds for housing, or did they do it some other way? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362511 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 08:57:34 +0000 lamariniere 2362511@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@blackbird: I totally agree with this. These are the questions I've been asking as the refugees settle here in Europe. It's great that we are taking them in and it is something I definitely support. But what happens in the medium to long term? While many of them have job skills that they are bringing from their home countries, they need language skills in order to integrate, a support system to help guide them through bureaucracy and the day to day in their host country (getting and using healthcare, signing a rent agreement, enrolling in school, finding childcare, etc.), and very importantly in my mind, the feeling of acceptance and being welcomed into a society instead of facing discrimination and turning into a burden when they are left with little support. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362495 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 08:49:25 +0000 lawbee11 2362495@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsSCB: :shocked: No words...</p> <p>@JoJoGirl: Yep, selective compassion at its finest. </p> <p>Even France is still accepting refugees: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hollande-france-plans-to-take-in-30000-refugees-over-two-years_564c78bae4b06037734bb934" rel="nofollow">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hollande-france-plans-to-take-in-30000-refugees-over-two-years_564c78bae4b06037734bb934</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/all-of-this-talk-about-the-syrian-refugees#post-2362442 Thu, 19 Nov 2015 08:04:06 +0000 blackbird 2362442@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I do think we can/should take people in. But we need to have something in place to help integrate them into society and support them once they are here. Otherwise they just turn into a small faction of individuals who need our government's support forever and they never get the actual help they need (mental health support, in particular...)....I read a really great book about the Hmong refugees here in America and I imagine it would be pretty similar. They have no skills or language, so they stay on welfare forever, and are never able to get back onto their feet (which they want to do! But we don't have programs in place to support that). And of course, this all takes tax money to do, and we know how that goes...So i see both sides of the issue here, but I think something needs to be hashed out and put in place. I don't think bringing them here causes ISIS to target Americans more; they're extremists who will find something else to attack us for. </p>