After this weekend’s terror attacks in Paris that claimed 129 lives, how will the international community react and how will that reaction impact the current flood of refugees entering Europe?
As I outlined in a prior post the fear that Middle Eastern refugees were being used to hide terrorists was one held widely by many around the world. That fear can now be validated following the attacks. One of the terrorists came into Europe with refugees through Greece. This news has sparked further tensions all throughout Europe. A Polish minister have advocated for the return of Syrian’s to their homeland so they can fight there, not in Europe, as well as saying that Poland will no longer accept the EU quota for Refugees. With growing mistrust for migrants and refugees many people in Europe are demanding that their governments close the borders and no allow any more people in to the country. The paris attacks and likelihood that more than one of the terrorists came to Europe pretending to be refugees will only stoke this anger.
While the US does not play a very large role in placing refugees and migrants, states throughout the country have officially said they will no longer accept any refugees because of security concerns. this means that there will be even fewer places for the migrants and refugees to go once the inevitable closure of European borders in the near future. The lack of outflow from Syria and the refusal of Gulf States to take any refugees will mean a larger and more violent civil war as more and more people are either forced to fight by one side or have no option but to fight to protect their family, as we discussed in class.
Int'l Conflict & Security (RPOS 386) 
Thank you for you post. I heard that Russia will put assert to attack on IS. I heard that many military analysts believe current situation on IS will change a lot due to Russia’s participation. For example, in the past Russia wasn’t really aggressive on Somalian Pirates, but after Russia started to sweep out Somalian Pirates, it changed a lot. In case of other countries, they caught the Somalian pirates but Russia’s blow up the whole ship. So, Russia’s participation on attacking IS might bring a positive change.
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I do not really know how I feel about this situation. I realize that it may be a security risk for the countries allowing refugees in but I do not think that it would be right to just stop allowing them to come in general. Though the attacks in Paris were a huge issue I do not think that it is fair to penalize all refugees over this incident. These people are leaving their countries for a legitimate reason. I do realize it would be nearly impossible to monitor all refugees and give them some sort of background check but maybe that would be a place to start.
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I think it is dubious to connect (this) terrorist attacks with refugees/immigrants from the Middle East region. Considering the insiders’ role in this terrorism, grievances were cultivated in European countries like Belgium, so domestic problems in European countries have a great relations with the possibility of outbreaks of terrorism.
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great post!
I defiantly think that this event might bring some speculation and hesitance in bringing in refugees from the middle east. If it is indeed true that the refugee crisis acted as a sort of ‘trojan horse’ then countries should be weary, however if this isn’t true then state actors should exercise caution in accepting refugees to avoid further crisis.
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I agree that it will now become harder for the refugees to gain access into other lands. There needs to be a security system set up to be able to determine if the refugees are terrorists or not but I believe that the majority of the innocent refugees deserve to be able to flee to another country
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I predict the security on the refugee access will tighten up significantly, and refugees will be subject to more hate crimes and will become feared and resented, which is a very probable platform for hate crimes and killings.
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this is a great post! it is an obvious fact that almost everything in international politics are all related to one another. as time goes on and more events unfold it will be quite interesting to see how these two events will influence each other.
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I think the refugees need to be helped. I would like to believe that they do not pose a security risk but, I accept that the risk is there. I think the events made the refugees look bad but I still think they deserve as much aid as possible.
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The refugee crisis has become a very hot button issue ever since the Paris terror attacks. The refugees are becoming scapegoats for a program that a lot of politicians just don’t want to have in the first place, and now they have someone to blame. There are a lot easier ways to get in this country as terrorists then to pose as refugees, so I think that is what we should be focused on shutting down before we start turning away people who actually need help.
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Great post! I think that the terrorist attacks in Paris have only served to reaffirm Europe’s far Right (and fascist Right) Islamophobia and xenophobia, with regard to the Syrian refugees. Europe has experienced a reactionary period, in terms of political ideology, which has brought about the rise of conservative and ultra-nationalistic parties in counties such as France, Germany, and even Sweden. These types of parties and political beliefs thrive off of public fear (as we have learned in class) and their longevity is dependent upon the frequency of terrorist attacks.
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I think that it is a sad truth that in this era, terrorism will occur and there is no way to completely prevent it, save through social conditioning, and perhaps intelligence gathering. But it says a lot for the resilience and determination of a nation to not shut its doors to refugees, even in times of fear and uncertainty. I think that ultimately ISIS wants that kind of reaction. It will only further polarize the west against the Islamic community, an outcome that will only swell the ranks of new recruits for ISIS. But that cannot be allowed to happen, we should not allow fear of future attacks to cause us to leave refugees behind when they are helpless. We cannot group an entire population of people made homeless and destitute by war with an extremist, radical group, regardless of whether or not a single refugee has been found to be affiliated with ISIS. That does not even remotely mean they all are. And now more than ever the refugees are in need of help, the U.S. should not cut them off. Fear should not interfere with doing the right thing.
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