Brushing off refugee worries at home, President Barack Obama crouched alongside migrant children today and declared they are the opposite of terrorists wreaking havoc from Paris to Mali. Working to put a human face on the refugee crisis, he said, "They're just like our kids."
The refugees Obama encountered at a school for poor children in Malaysia were not from Syria, and unlike the flood of Syrians meeting steep resistance in the U.S., these migrants had already been cleared to resettle in America.
Still, Obama said their faces could have been those of kids from Syria, Iraq and other war-torn regions whose pursuit of a life free from violence led them far from their native homes.
"They were indistinguishable from any child in America," Obama said. "The notion that somehow we would be fearful of them that our politics would somehow lead us to turn our sights away from their plight is not representative of the best of who we are."
More than mere musings, Obama's comments were intended as a direct rebuke to those demanding a halt to Syrian and Iraqi refugees entering the U.S. In the light of the Islamic State's attacks in Paris. Obama said the U.S. Had shown it can welcome refugees while ensuring security. "There's no contradiction," he said.
Many Americans seem to disagree. Democrats in large numbers have abandoned their president and his opposition to stiffer screening measures; forty-seven of them voted against Obama on Thursday. Having secured a veto-proof majority in the House, supporters are now hoping for a repeat in the Senate, while Obama works to shift the conversation to milder visa waiver changes that wouldn't affect Syrian refugees.
In a modest classroom where refugee children were learning English, Obama zigzagged among art projects, puzzles and a caged class rabbit as he asked children in crisp white uniforms and neckties about their aspirations for the future.
Later, as he met with older refugees who will soon relocate to the U.S., he said these children "deserve love and protection and stability and an education."
"You will see the degree to which they represent the opposite of terror, the opposite of the type of despicable violence we saw in Mali and Paris," the president said.
He singled out one refugee from Myanmar, a petite 16-year-old in a bright yellow dress and said she had been a victim of human trafficking until the U.N. Intervened. Obama said the girl now hopes to advocate for those who have suffered a similar plight. The White House declined to name the girl out of concern for the safety of her parents still in Myanmar.
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Obama said he called the summit because the refugee crisis is "one of the most urgent tests of our time - our capacity for collective action. To test, first and foremost, our ability to end conflicts, because so many of the world's refugees come from just three countries ravaged by war - Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia," he said.
Obama, who is attending the last UN General-Assembly session of his presidency, said nations cannot excuse the mentality that allows for violence with impunity.
He added it was not fair that a handful of countries, mostly with limited resources, are bearing the burden of hosting the maximum refugees.
"And collectively, we continue to make excuses. It's not the subject of this summit, but we all know that what is happening in Syria, for example, is unacceptable. And we are not as unified as we should be in pushing to make it stop.
"It's a test of our international system where all nations ought to share in our collective responsibilities, because the vast majority of refugees are hosted by just 10 countries who are bearing a very heavy burden - among them Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Ethiopia. Countries that often have fewer resources than many of those who are doing little or nothing," he said.
The refugee crisis also tests the nations' shared security. "Not because refugees are a threat. Refugees, most of whom are women and children, are often fleeing war and terrorism. They are victims. They're families who want to be safe and to work, be good citizens and contribute to their country... Who are interested in assimilating and contributing to the society in which they find themselves."
He underlined the need to recognise that refugees are a symptom of "larger failures" such as war, ethnic tensions or persecution.
"If we truly want to address the crisis, wars like the savagery in Syria must be brought to an end - and it will be brought to an end through political settlement and diplomacy, and not simply by bombing."
He told the summit that as President, he has increased the number of refugees America is resettling to 85,000 this year, which includes 10,000 Syrian refugees.
In the coming fiscal year, the US will welcome and resettle 110,000 refugees from around the world - which is a nearly 60 percent increase over 2015.
