The Truth About the Refugee Crisis

The images seeping out of Europe have painted a shocking picture of the growing refugee crisis. Photographs of a dead Syrian toddler have touched millions. Pictures of swarms of desperate people crowding train stations and emaciated children sleeping on sidewalks have shaken the world.

Amid these heart-breaking news portraits, little has been written to document the scale of the torrent of humanity invading Europe.  Facts, often elusive in the throes of a crisis, are beginning to come to light and the numbers paint a far different picture than the provocative television and media reports.

Most of the wave of people flooding Europe are not from Syria and the majority are not refugees. According to the latest European Union statistics, of the 213,000 people who fled to Europe from April through June only 44,000 (or one of every five) are from Syria.

The United Nations estimates that four million Syrians have departed their country and are now abroad.  Many have landed in neighboring countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.  Migrants from other countries have taken advantage of the situation to join the wave invading Europe.

Immigrants from Afghanistan, Albania, Eritrea, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia and Kosovo are escaping their countries in unison with the refugees. Numbers are hard to come by, but Frontex estimates more than half a million immigrants have arrived in Europe, tagging along with the refugees.

Frontex is the European Union agency that deals with immigration issues, including human trafficking and illegal migrants.

The total number of requests for asylum in the 28-member European Union currently stands at 592,000.  And the applications are mushrooming each day.  Add to that more than 500,000 migrants illegally crossing European borders and you have an crisis of epic proportions.

This tide of humanity has swamped the resources of European countries. Bankrupt Greece has watched as 181,488 refugees have rushed into the country.  Some nations, such as Austria, have erected border controls to stem the onrush before their nation collapses in chaos.

Meanwhile, in the United States, the Obama Administration keeps upping the ante on how many refugees the country will accept.  On September 11, The White House promised to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees.  Ten days later, Secretary of State John Kerry raised the number to 185,000.

Under Kerry's plan, the country would take in 85,000 Syrian refugees next year and 100,000 in 2017 after President Obama leaves office. Some in the world community, including Pope Francis, have urged the United States to fling open its borders and grant asylum to thousands more.

The jaundiced propaganda is aimed at casting America as a closed society with no compassion for displaced refugees. Like so many prejudiced judgments, it is unequivocally false.

Statistics issued by The World Bank show there were 263,662 refugees residing in the U.S. in 2013, the latest year for which figures are available.  That number far exceeds refugees in developed countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, India and Russia.

In 2013, American rolled out the red carpet for 69,909 refugees.  Of that number, 25,199 were granted asylum, Homeland Security figures show.  Refugee admissions to the U.S. have been growing steadily since 2002, debunking the notion America has not done enough.

About 27 percent of the refugees who received U.S. asylum migrated from Iraq.  Other countries sending refugees in large numbers included Bhutan and Burma.  Asylum requests from Syrians last year accounted for less than one percent of the total.

The largest flow ever recorded of refugees to America followed the passage of the landmark Displaced Persons Act of 1948.  After Congress approved the measure, the U.S. opened its doors to 400,000 Eastern European refugees.  No country has even come close to that kind of refugee intake.

For centuries, America has been a sanctuary for refugees.  It is part of the country's DNA to receive with open arms those fleeing from oppression.  To suggest otherwise, is to ignore history and to deny the American experience.