Thursday, September 10, 2015

Tripping and kicking those fleeing Syria . . .


One of the biggest stories making news today is the Hungarian camerawoman who tripped and kicked the very people she was filming as they fled from Hungarian authorities.  

So to back up, thousands of Syrians are fleeing Syria because of the civil war there.  Isis has taken up residence in Syria and the latest is that the Russian military has sent ground troops and weaponry to the border.  It looks like this place is about to spill over.

 (but don't worry, Kanye West is going to run for president) - whew . . . relief.

The path of those fleeing what's to come takes them through Hungary - a country not too in love with the Syrians (who represent mouths to feed and jobs to obtain in an economy that is already in the tank).  Initially the immigrants were told that they can't move through the country but with some international pressure they allowed it.

But apparently the sentiment of Hungary's citizens is that these people should be rounded up and sent back home.  So this sentiment was reflected in a camerawoman tripping a man running with a child and then kicking a kid who was in a crowd of people running toward her.  You can see the footage here.  

We really don't know why she did it.

But we can guess it is because of the large number of Syrians that may displace those who have jobs already in Europe.  Germany is prepared to absorb as many as 500,000 fleeing refugees.

(France magnanimously offered to take in 24,000)

But just a small glimpse of comparison . . . the United States has taken in 11,000,000 people fleeing from economic or political conditions.  

Just an interesting figure - I wonder how Europe will handle this and future movements of people seeking the good fortune of a stable Europe.  How do we offer aid to those afflicted . . . and at what point does it destroy the stability that we are able to offer?


1 comment:

  1. Although it's my understanding that the U.S. has said we are only willing to take 8,000 Syrian refugees and so far less than 2,000 have actually been allowed to enter the country. Not so great.

    Christina (Stegall) Hitchcock (remember me from GCTS? Good to see you here!)

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