Syrian refugees wait in Lebanon.
Photo by Mohamed Azakir/The World Bank
Crisis in Syria
Adapted from The Vancouver Sun, CBC News,
CNBC, and Aljazeera America by Nila Gopaul
- Listen to “Crisis in Syria”– Level 3
Reading by Corey Muench
Civil war started in Syria
in 2011. The war continues today.
Over 100,000 people have died.
Syria is a country in western Asia.
Its population is 22.5 million.
About 5,000 Syrians leave
their country each day.
Over 4 million Syrian refugees
are in neighbouring countries, such as Turkey and Lebanon.
Thousands of Syrian refugees also cross into Europe.
Both Canada and the U.S.
each promised to resettle
10,000 Syrians by September 2016.
In 2014, about 23,000 refugees came to Canada.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark
promised $1 million to help community groups
settle Syrian refugees in B.C.
Map of Syria/CC, wikimedia
Vocabulary
- crisis – a time of great danger
- civil war – a war between citizens of the same country
- refugees – people who are forced to leave their country
in order to escape war or a natural disaster.
New information (Nov. 25, 2015)
Canada’s new Liberal government will bring
10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of this year.
Another 15,000 refugees will come in early 2016.
B.C. is expecting 400 Syrian refugees
in a few weeks.
Metro Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops
say they are ready to receive these refugees.
Vernon, Armstrong and Salmon Arm in the B.C. interior
are preparing to sponsor Syrian refugees, too.