Viewpoint: Refugees, generosity and America’s image in the world
Doug James
President Trump has a way of talking about people from other countries. He reaches for words designed to inflame: criminals, rapists, murderers, predators, terrorists, drug dealers. He peddles rage, prejudice, and lies.
There is a clear pattern. Identify a group of people. Create the worst possible label. Sow fear. Collect applause.
It is performance politics, founded on hatred, intolerance, and lies.
I ignored the lies and traveled. Turkey. I strolled the ruins of ancient civilizations — Homer’s Troy, the legends of Odysseus, the remnants of Rome, Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire. What I learned about Turkey surprised me. What I learned about America surprised me even more.
Turkey is the size of a plus-sized Texas. About 86 million people. Not a wealthy nation. It struggles with inflation, economic uncertainty, and political challenges. Yet Turkey hosts more refugees than almost any country.
Turkey hosts roughly 3.2 million people fleeing war, persecution, and violence. The U.S. has roughly 500,000 refugees. Turkey is many times more. Do the math.
That was not the Turkey I expected to find.
Istanbul is an enchanted and vibrant city. Twenty million people. That is roughly 20 Montanas in one city. More than 3,500 mosques. The skyline is a forest of minarets. Streets, palaces, and mosques that have witnessed thousands of years of history.
And among those streets are millions of people who are not originally from Turkey. Refugees and Asylum Seekers. People fleeing Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. More than 3.2 million refugees live there, including roughly 2.5 million Syrians who escaped civil war.
It is a brutal reality. Families. Children. Parents. People who packed what they could carry and left behind their belongings, relatives, jobs, and entire lives, so that they could survive.
Turkey taught me how little I knew about the global refugee crisis.
Huge numbers. More than 44 million refugees worldwide. Plus 8 million seeking asylum. Plus millions who were forcibly displaced because of war, violence, or persecution. The total. More than 120 million. Forced to seek refuge in another country, by circumstances most of us cannot imagine.
The United Nations defines a refugee as someone with a well-founded fear of persecution because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. An asylum seeker is someone seeking refugee status.
These are legal terms. For every definition, there are millions of human stories. Tough, tragic stories.
Turkey is amazing. The history. The people. The energy. It’s not perfect. No place is. People aren’t rich. The average person makes about $1,800 U.S. a month. Inflation is 32%. The interest rate is 37%. Imagine.
And yet, Turkey continues to welcome people in search of a better life. That generosity challenged my assumptions.
We think of the United States as a generous country. The Marshall Plan, USAID, disaster relief, food assistance, HIV prevention and treatment, immunizations, and decades of humanitarian leadership.
And that history matters. But, our history does not excuse the harm caused by Trump’s cuts. Reputational harm. And harm to all those who are seeking safety and sanctuary in another country. Trump dramatically reduced America’s commitments to refugee assistance and other humanitarian programs.
Under President Biden, the United States accepted 125,000 refugees annually. The Trump administration cut that number by 93% to 7,500. And, white South Africans have been given priority. The result. Incalculable misery.
Turkey has no annual refugee cap. None.
That contrast is difficult to ignore.
A small and poor country is doing more to help the refugees of the world than the United States. I was shocked and saddened.
When Trump withdrew America from international humanitarian programs, Senators Daines and Sheehy and Representatives Zinke and Downing were silent. Boldly Silent. Loyal puppets to the end.
When millions fled war in Syria, Senator Daines and Representative Zinke actively opposed providing sanctuary to Syrian refugees. Turkey opened its doors and demonstrated its leadership. America cut taxes for the uber-rich. Turkey welcomed 3.8 million Syrians fleeing civil war. Now, don’t tell me that America is a Christian nation.
America has long aspired to be a beacon on a hill. Our light has dimmed. It’s flickering. Many around the world can’t see it. For America to be a beacon on the hill, our government must embrace and reflect the values, integrity, and generosity of the American people.
Vote for change. America can still make a difference.
Doug James is a retired Montana attorney and an advocate for smart public policy.