Barry University’s Center for Community Service Initiatives presents a Deliberative Dialogue
Welcoming Refugees or Closing Our Borders
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
4:00–5:30 p.m.
Andreas 112
Barry University, Miami Shores
Free and open to the public.
Refreshments will be provided.
Recent international humanitarian crises have forced millions of people to flee their homes and seek refuge in other nations. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the end of 2015, 65.3 million people were forcibly displaced, 21.3 million were officially classified as refugees, and 10 million were classified as stateless persons. To date, nearly 5 million people have fled Syria alone.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pleaded with the international community to accept more Syrian refugees, CNN reported earlier this year.
"Today, they are refugees," Ban said. "Tomorrow, they can be students and professors, scientists and researchers, workers and caregivers."
The resettlement of refugees, especially those from Syria, has been a political flashpoint in this year’s U.S. presidential election. Hillary Clinton has been accused of being dangerously negligent and anti-American in her promise to allow more Syrian families to resettle in the United States. Donald Trump has been accused of stoking nationalist sentiments and playing on Americans’ anxieties about national security and threat of terrorism with his call to temporarily ban Muslims from the United States.
Does the United States have a moral obligation to protect those who are persecuted in their homelands? Are refugees a threat to Americans, or a source of growth and ingenuity? Do duties to protect citizens take precedence over being a safe haven for others?
Join community experts, students, alumni, faculty, and staff to explore responses and collaborative approaches to this timely issue. Deliberative Dialogue Series, forums for working
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Center for Community Service Initiatives
11300 NE Second Avenue, Miami, FL 33161
service@barry.edu / 305-899-3696
www.barry.edu/service