“We can and must do more to address the plight of Syrian refugees.”

WASHINGTON — Both of Michigan’s senators signed a letter urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to increase aid to Syria’s refugees by providing additional humanitarian assistance and raising the capacity of refugee admission to the United States. 

Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters told The Arab American News last month that the United States should be more active in assisting displaced Syrians. 

The letter was signed by 22 Democratic senators and sent on Oct. 5 to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), the chair of the Appropriations Committee, and other ranking senators. It advocates for more aid to organizations that help refugees in the Middle East, including the World Food Program, Save the Children and Oxfam.

“While acknowledging the United States is the largest contributor to the global humanitarian response, we can and must do more to address the plight of Syrian refugees,” the letter reads. 

The senators also request admitting a greater number of refugees, citing the United States’ history of welcoming newcomers from places of turmoil.

“The United States has a long tradition of providing safe haven to refugees fleeing from tyranny, violence and persecution,” the statement reads. “We welcomed approximately 200,000 refugees from the Balkan Wars, 700,000 refugees from Cuba, and more than 700,000 refugees from Vietnam. Compared with these historic numbers, we can do better than 10,000 slots for Syrian families.”

The White House announced last month that the United States will accept 10,000 refugees over the next year. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sept. 20 that the U.S. will increase the overall total number of refugees admitted into the country to 100,000 by 2017. The U.S. currently accepts 70,000 asylum seekers each year.

“The brutality and callousness of ISIL (ISIS) and the Assad regime are fully responsible for this humanitarian crisis,” the Democratic senators said in the letter. “Ultimately the Syrian civil war must end. But until that time, we can take the measures proposed above to have an immediate, yet lasting, impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Syrians – including those who will be needed to rebuild their country.”

Peters also signed a letter requesting Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson provide an update on how the administration screens refugees from conflict regions.

“The Administration has proposed allowing 10,000 Syrian refugees resettle in the United States,” the senators said in the letter. “However, refugees face a multi-year, multi-step screening process before they can be legally resettled. It is, of course, a national security imperative that anyone granted admission to the United States is vetted comprehensively.”

The letter suggests employing videoconferencing as a fast, efficient method of interviewing asylum seekers in dangerous areas.