Should Turkey Re-Open Its Border To Syrian Refugees?

[ichkeria]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/syrian-refugees-turkey-open-border-160209131028173.html

(one of many links)

As background, Aleppo, Syria's main city, currently being carpet bombed, is almost surrounded and has now only one safe route in and out. The population has shrunk drastically but over a quarter of a million people still live there. About 10% only of the Christian community of 200,000 remains.
Thousands of civilians now trapped outside the borer with Turkey, with the Turks only allowing the seriously ill and injured through.

I wonder if anyone saw Mail journo Peter Oborne (just back from Aleppo) on Newsnight last night. I am sure he is a lovely man, but he did seem to be regarding the whole thing as some sort of jolly wheeze. maybe it was just his accent and the fact that he looks like the housemaster of a minor public school :-)

[agchristie]

> Bussing refugees on over the next border is hardly going to help Turkey convince the EU to allow them to replace the UK, when we exit.

As Ichkeria mentioned, 'bit naughty', but can you really blame them?

As for overseas aid, we waste millions on worse causes so why not? Other nations have to muck in though.

[youngmafbog]

And there is the problem, other Nations dont want to.

[ichkeria]

There is, as people may or may not know, a special conference holed every year, which aims to raise money to make the refugee camps more "liveable in" .
The most recent one of these has just been held in London, and a large amount of money was pledged.
Not sure setting up refugee camps withing Syria is much of an option.
As already explained, many of these people have already fled from other parts of Syria. It also appears that the Russians have been bombing refugee camps - so you can see why the idea of hanging around for perhaps years as fodder for the armed forces of Assad and the air forces of Putin is not a very appealing one.
It is an EU problem of course because like it or not that is where a large number end up trying to flee to. That would be a lot less likely if there was something for them to hang around for.
I think the "bussing refugees" thing was a heart of the moment threat. It would be quite an operation, apart from anything else.

[agchristie]

> It also appears that the Russians have been bombing refugee camps

Doesn't exactly help the displacement issues does it?

[Togo]

Perhaps all the refugees in camps and the displaced by conflict could be accommodated in the new King Abdullah Economic City, which although built at vast expense is finding it difficult to attract inhabitants.