Obama urges world leaders to accept refugees

By Rafael Trujillo

“I believe history will judge us harshly if we do not rise to history,” President Barack Obama said during his last speech at the United Nations. He urged world leaders for acceptance of refugees.

Last week, Mr. Obama requested countries to collaborate in the crisis. He has called a Leaders’ Summit on Refugees at the U.N. Mr. Obama has pointed about the situation in Syria, which has displaced 4.8 million people this year. He added, “I called this summit because this crisis is one of the most urgent test of our time.”

The U.N.’s refugee agency has reported that about 65.3 million people were displaced from their residences in 2015. Families have drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, and the pictures of these families have disrupted in the mind of millions of people.

Mr. Obama took the initiative to comment in the current election process in the United States while referring to the war in Syria. This crisis is a test of our common humanity. Whether we give into suspicion and fear and build walls, or whether we see ourselves in another. Additionally, he spoke about the Zika virus, “mosquitoes don’t respect walls.” He made this comment in reference to the comments of Donald Trump building a wall in the border with Mexico.

The war in Syria, Russia invading Crimea, and the terrorist attacks performed by ISIS are some of the issues that world leaders have confronted. Mr. Obama’s presidential term ends in January, but his speech at U.N. provides an example of his work to bring world leaders together to solve these issues.