International Community Reacts To Migrant Crisis, But Challenges Remain
Almost a week after a photo of a 3-year old Syrian boy was featured on the front pages of newspapers and websites across the globe, leaders began to react.
Pope Francis implored Catholic institutions throughout Europe to show mercy to the flood of refugees arriving on their shores by offering them shelter.
“I appeal to the parishes, the religious communities, the monasteries and sanctuaries of all Europe to … take in one family of refugees,” he said after his Sunday address in the Vatican.
“The nations of the old Soviet bloc which are struggling to get their fledgling economies established are being turned into a chaotic corridor for waves of migrants seeking the benevolence of rich, secure countries like Germany and Sweden,” she noted.
As Paul Valleley point out in the Times of Oman, there are two outstanding problems – how to dissuade refugees from leaving and how to keep them close to their home countries so they can return when fighting abates. Britain, for example, has been far more willing to provide aid to Jordan and Turkey to care for refugees than other nations.
There are challenges facing leaders across the globe that cannot be explained in a single, tragic photo of a dead child.
Lu Jun, China’s Most Feared Social Activists
As the leader of an influential Chinese nonprofit called Yirenping, Lu Jun has become a primary target in Beijing’s campaign against Western values.
By influencing government policy on labor and domestic abuse through the effective use of stunt-based protests , Jun has had a real impact.
“This is a man who has improved the lives of millions of people,” Ira Belkin, an expert in Chinese law and civil society at New York University’s U.S.-Asia Law Center, tells The Wall Street Journal.
US Cautions Russia On Engagement With Syria
Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Lavrov, to discuss reports of an imminent Russian military buildup in Syria and to issue a warning to them.
“The secretary made clear that if such reports were accurate, these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria,” the State Department added, according to The New York Times.
In recent days, the Russians have sent a military advance team to Syria, which many consider to be signs Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to vastly expand his military support for President Bashar al-Assad.