Syria Hosts more than 1.3 million Iraqi refugees

I am amazed that Syria does not get more credit for taking in over 1.3 million refugees from the Iraq conflict. However else one might feel about history or politics, I ask people to consider for a moment what an achievement this is. Talk about Biblical hospitality in the Middle East.... over one and a third million refugees arriving in a span of only a few years in a country of Syria's size. Yet you do not hear whining from Syria, and remember, they already host several hundred thousand Palestinians over various periods of time since 1948.

Now, put this number and hospitality in the context of Syria's population and income levels:

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=82773

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Syria's population has grown to more than 19 million residents although the annual birth rate has slipped to 2.5 percent, the government daily Tishrin reported on Tuesday. "The Syrian population has crossed the 19 million mark in 2007, from 17.9 million residents in 2004," it said, citing figures from the country's central statistics bureau. The figure was only 4.5 million in 1960 and 13.8 million in 1994. "This growth rate represents the greatest challenge for development plans," it said. The birth rate, however, was as high as 3.3 percent between 1981 and 1994, easing to 2.7 percent between 1995 and 2000, before falling to the current rate of 2.5 percent. Syria forecasts an economic growth rate of 5.6 percent for this year, with a target of seven percent by the end of a 2006-2010 five-year development plan. Per capita income has risen to $1,056 a year, from $756 in 2000. - AFP

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Can you imagine the achievement that it is to host 1.3 million Iraqi refugees when you are a country of 19 million population?

I think the only parallel that the USA can imagine is the generosity of Texas, much of it unsung, who took in so many people who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and the levee damage in New Orleans.

Still, the proportions of Syria's kindness toward Iraqi refugees is amazing, and worthy of recognition.