Invisible No More: Social Work, Human Rights, and the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Abstract

The Syrian refugee crisis began in March 2011 and continues today with increasing conflict in northwest Syria. To date, it is the largest refugee crisis with an estimated 6.7 million refugees and more than 13.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian aid. Policies have done little to hold countries accountable and have had little to no impact on the millions of families seeking asylum from war and persecution in Syria. In the USA, the Refugee Act of 1980 allows the sitting president to have power over refugee resettlement, resulting in record low admission numbers under President Trump’s administration. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has clearly articulated that all persons have a right to seek asylum. Despite this, millions of displaced persons are denied this right to asylum due to their religion, race, or country of origin. Social work has taken a bystander role to refugee problems in the past and continues to do so with Syrian refugees, despite the standards and ethics of the profession that call for advocacy and social justice. This article highlights the implications of social work’s silence regarding Syrian refugees.