Dear Mr. or Mrs. President

During your term, there are many problems that need to be solved. One of the biggest problems facing you and the world is the Syrian refugee crisis. Nearly one half of Syria’s former population is fleeing the war in their country, seeking a place to live. Many countries are turning them away because of the risks of letting in terrorists. However, the U.S. has a responsibility to help these people because we are the defenders of freedom, liberty, and justice in the world.

One of the ways we can help is by letting in more refugees. President Obama set a goal of letting in 10,000 refugees each year. We have only let in 4,500 so far this year, according to the New York Times. We should try to reach or surpass this goal in upcoming years. However, we also need to make sure we have enough security to keep terrorists, who could pose as refugees, out. Currently, the screening process involves eighteen to twenty-four months of paperwork, screening, and background checks. There has been a recent plan to cut screening to three months. I think we need to keep the current process. This is one way we can help refugees.

Another way we can help refugees is by contributing funding to refugee aid programs. These programs need 7.7 billion dollars to cover the basic necessities of all of these refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We can contribute some of this money. To get the money, we need to be more efficient with the money we get from taxes, or we can raise taxes. If every adult in the U.S. contributed 32 dollars, we would have all 7.7 billion dollars. This would cover food, water, shelter, and medical attention for nearly all of the refugees stuck in refugee camps in Syria until they can find a new home, or until the war in Syria is over.

Many countries in the world are not accepting refugees. We need to try to convince them to help take in these refugees. Everyone needs to cooperate to get this job done, but few countries currently are. Many countries, such as Poland, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia, refuse to take in refugees because of the threat of terrorists entering. We can help them screen refugees for terrorist connections to lessen the chance of terrorists entering. That is another way we can help the refugees in Syria.

This is one of the biggest issues facing you as president, so I hope you consider these ideas. We can help by letting in more refugees. We can also help by contributing funding to aid groups. Lastly, we can help by convincing other countries to pitch in. I hope you consider this issue closely because it is very important. 

Sincerely,

Ryan, 7th grade student