Nate Assignment 4

Syria is not safe anymore. Since the Arab Spring democracy protests began in the Middle East began, the country has be flung into conflict. What started as peaceful protest in 2011 has transformed into a civil war that has claimed the lives of 220,000 Syrians. Over 7 million Syrians have been internally displaced and around 4 million have fled the country. But many have nowhere to go. Until earlier this month, most European countries had tightened down on the amount of Syrian refugees they let into the country. This had led many Syrians facing likely likely death in their home country to take desperate measures to get to Europe. Smuggling through the Mediterranean has been the most popular attempt, but many of the sturdy ships carrying the Syrians to refuge were more of flimsy canoes. Europe and the rest of the world was for the most part unresponsive to reports of thousands of Syrian drownings.
That all changed with this.

On the morning of September 2 a dead Syrian boy was discovered on the shore of Turkish beach resort. This picture surfaced all over the Internet and its influence has spanned the world. Most people hadn't given one though to what it meant that thousands of Syrians were drowning. This boy was certainly not the first, but the images of his death forced millions to realize the horrors that many refugees were facing. It was a wake up call to governments that its times to start helping. Countries all over Europe and even the U.S. have announced that they are going to accept as many Syrians as possible. If that isn't world changing I don't know what is.