John Oliver Hilariously Debunks the Ignorance Surrounding Syrian Refugee Crisis
John Oliver Hilariously Debunks the Ignorance Surrounding Syrian Refugee Crisis
@ YouTube screenshot/Last Week Tonight

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver destroyed the hypocrisy surrounding refugee crisis in the United States. While 31 US governors oppose the resettlement of Syrian refugees in their states, he pointed out that the notion among US officials, who have second thoughts about receiving Syrian refugees in the United States, is “pretty extreme, but also pretty meaningless”.

He went on to compare the reactions toward resettling Syrian refugees to those of 1939 toward the Jews when US authorities turned a ship containing more than 900 mostly Jewish refugees back to Europe.

He added: “Every generation has had its own ugly reaction to refugees whether they are the Irish, Vietnamese, Cubans or Haitians and those fears have been broadly unfounded.”

Oliver proceeded to explain the rigorous vetting process for Syrian refugees before even getting near a plane, which usually takes between 18 and 24 months to complete. He said:

“This is the most rigorous vetting anyone has to face before being let in this country. No terrorist in their right mind would choose this path when the visa process is far less effort.”

By Hakim Charles

Hakim Charles studied political science of the Middle East, European Studies, journalism and linguistics. He has been lecturing at different German universities since 2011 on issues related to ideology and the interplay of power thereof in socio-political life, and religion and its relationship to contemporary politics in the regions of West Asia and North Africa, especially Egypt and Syria. He is also the editor-in-chief of the Mashreq Politics & Culture Journal (MPC Journal) since 2014 and has published over 100 articles in different languages, academic and otherwise, in a wide spectrum of on-line and printed newspapers, journals and think tanks. His current research focuses on Islam-inspired political ideologies such as Islamist extremism and Salafism, radicalisation, de-radicalisation processes in Germany as well as peace and conflict in the Middle East.

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