The sexual exploitation of Syrian refugees and others who are migrating to Europe is running rampant. They are being exploited by human smugglers, husbands, police officers, and others who know that they will likely go unpunished. The exploitation is so graphic and so laden with impunity that many of the women interviewed for this article would not give out their names for fear of retaliation.
Susanne Höhne, the lead psychotherapist at a center in west Berlin specializing in treating traumatized female migrants, says that almost all of the 44 women in her care — some barely adults, some over 60 — have experienced sexual violence. “We go to our own therapists for supervision twice a month to cope with what we hear,” Ms. Höhne said about her 18 staff members. Together they provide two weekly therapy sessions to each woman and up to seven hours of social work, including home visits, to help them with adjusting to life in Germany.
A 30-year-old Syrian mother of four fled the war with her family early last year. When her husband ran out of money to pay their smuggler in Bulgaria, he offered his wife as payment instead. For three months, she was raped almost daily to earn her family’s onward journey.
Soon her own husband was abusing her, too. A “twisted logic,” Ms. Höhne said. “What her husband made her do ended up tainting his honor. She became the guilty party.”
What we have found is that we have to be careful about how we manage the inflow of refugees. The problem is that the two most inclusive European countries, Germany and Sweden, have strained their resources to the point where they now have to start turning people away. It is getting increasingly difficult to find housing for these people or provide adequate services for them, let alone keep track of incidents of violence against these people.
This was a foreseeable crisis. War always produces refugees, and it was only logical to assume that most of the refugees would want to make their way to Europe, which is commonly seen as a land of milk and honey.
Besides bringing about an end to the present civil war in Syria, the US has an obligation to take in as many refugees as is feasible. We can’t blindly throw open the gates, but what the Obama administration must do is talk to local faith leaders, mayors, businesses, and refugee agencies and look for housing and employment for as many people as possible, and match refugees with opportunities. If someone is able to start and run their own business, that would be even better. The state governors cannot be allowed to exercise veto power over this process, although we should listen to their input. Under the Constitution, the Federal Government and not the states are in charge of managing immigration policy. The US already carefully vets refugees to ensure that they will not let in potential terrorists. The fear that one (out of thousands that we admit every year) could possibly become a terrorist cannot outweigh our moral and Constitutional obligation to provide hospitality to people seeking refuge from war, famine, and dictators who do not share our values.
This is totally in line with the teachings of Jefferson, who had this to say about this country accepting refugees:
"I hold the right of expatriation to be inherent in every man by the laws of nature, and incapable of being rightfully taken from him even by the united will of every other person in the nation. If the laws have provided no particular mode by which the right of expatriation may be exercised, the individual may do it by any effectual and unequivocal act or declaration." --Thomas Jefferson to Albert Gallatin, 1806. FE 8:458
"Expatriation [is] a natural right, and acted on as such by all nations in all ages." --Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821. ME 1:12
"Our ancestors... possessed a right, which nature has given to all men, of departing from the country in which chance, not choice, has placed them, of going in quest of new habitations, and of there establishing new societies, under such laws and regulations as, to them, shall seem most likely to promote public happiness." --Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British America, 1774. ME 1:185, Papers 1:121
Shall we refuse the unhappy fugitives from distress that hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our fathers arriving in this land? Shall oppressed humanity find no asylum on this globe? The Constitution, indeed, has wisely provided that for admission to certain offices of important trust a residence shall be required sufficient to develop character and design. But might not the general character and capabilities of a citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a bona fide purpose of embarking his life and fortunes permanently with us?" --Thomas Jefferson: 1st Annual Message, 1801. ME 3:338
"It [has] been the wise policy of these states to extend the protection of their laws to all those who should settle among them of whatever nation or religion they might be and to admit them to a participation of the benefits of civil and religious freedom, and... the benevolence of this practice as well as its salutary effects [has] rendered it worthy of being continued in future times." --Thomas Jefferson: Proclamation, 1781. Papers 4:505
"America is now, I think, the only country of tranquility and should be the asylum of all those who wish to avoid the scenes which have crushed our friends in [other lands]." --Thomas Jefferson to Mrs. Church, 1793. FE 6:289
"[We wish] but to consecrate a sanctuary for those whom the misrule of Europe may compel to seek happiness in other climes. This refuge, once known, will produce reaction on the happiness even of those who remain there by warning their task-masters that when the evils of Egyptian oppression become heavier than those of the abandonment of country, another Canaan is open where their subjects will be received as brothers and secured against like oppressions by a participation in the right of self-government." --Thomas Jefferson to George Flower, 1817. ME 15:141
Jefferson rightly said that we have to ensure that the immigrants are willing to accept our values; for instance, the NYT article notes one case of a German social worker calling law enforcement for a case of domestic violence, and the woman going ballistic at her for trying to take away her husband. But we have plenty of community leaders, social workers, faith leaders, and business people in this country who are more than willing to help in this transitional process.
One of the main problems Europe is experiencing is that many of their countries are among the most densely populated in the world. However, we are one of the least densely populated countries in the world, and can easily take in more refugees than we do now without compromising our values as a nation or weakening our security against terrorism.
The fact that man-made climate change is hitting close to home means that stories like these will become more common in the future as more and more people will be unable to live and work in the place of their birth. Therefore, we need to put a process in place now for housing more refugees, before we too become inundated with millions of refugees seeking shelter in our country from war, famine, or climate change.