Obama Tries to Put Human Face on Syrian Refugee Debate

Brushing off refugee worries at home, President Barack Obama crouched alongside migrant children on Saturday 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.”
Obama Tries to Put Human Face on Syrian Refugee Debate
President Barack Obama (C) shakes hands with a girl as he tours the Dignity for Children Foundation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. Obama visited the center in Malaysia that helps lower income families including refugees, casting a spotlight on the plight of those fleeing violence and persecution from Burma to Syria. AP Photo/Susan Walsh
The Associated Press
Updated:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Brushing off refugee worries at home, President Barack Obama crouched alongside migrant children on Saturday 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.

President Obama gets a hug from a 16-year-old refugee from Myanmar after speaking about the refugee situation during a visit to the Dignity for Children Foundation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. He is visiting the refugee center in Malaysia, casting a spotlight on the plight of those fleeing violence and persecution from Burma to Syria. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Obama gets a hug from a 16-year-old refugee from Myanmar after speaking about the refugee situation during a visit to the Dignity for Children Foundation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. He is visiting the refugee center in Malaysia, casting a spotlight on the plight of those fleeing violence and persecution from Burma to Syria. AP Photo/Susan Walsh