The Syrian refugee situation reminds some people of the Rwanda tragedy of the 1990s.

Here is a brief article about the human suffering due to the civil war in Syria.

This civil war seems to be between the dictator of Syria (and his army) and an army of "Islamists" who wish to establish a religiously based government.

To me it seems as if this war is being supported by both Russia and the USA, and neither Russia nor the USA is taking in any of the refugees who are being created by this situation.

The article:

http://www.euronews.com/2013/07/16/un-syrian-conflict-is-worst-humanitarian-crisis-in-nearly-20-years-/

Vocabulary to help you read the article:

a tragedy - this is a situation, usually, when an innocent person dies or people die.

a civil war - this is generally a war within one country which is fought by groups with different ideologies (beliefs).  A civil war can also be due to differing ethnic groups within a country. An ethnic group is a group of people who identify themselves differently from other groups based on the language they speak or the type of  family groups they come from, for instance: Serbians are ethnically different from Bosnians.  If a person is from China, her race would be Asian, but her ethnicity would be Chinese. I was born in the USA, as was my father, but I would be considered white and German-American.

a dictator - a leader who does not allow the people of a country to experience freedom.

a crisis - this usually means a very serious if not desperate situation that requires action immediately.

to displace millions - to force millions of people to leave their home country and become refugees in another country.

seeking refuge - seeking safety in a foreign country

fled - perfect tense of 'to flee' ...flee, fled, fled. To flee means to escape.

an outflow - a pouring out of people; a situation in which huge numbers of people leave a country

to escalate - to get worse; escalators are found in many shopping malls and buildings - you can stand on the moving stairs of an escalator and ascend up or descend down

a frightening rate - the rate is increasing so rapidly it is scaring some people at the UN and in various governments.

The Rwandan situation - this was a war between two 'tribes' in Rwanda in the 1990s.  In that situation the world merely ignored the situation until one tribe began to engage in acts of genocide against the other tribe (one tribe tried to kill every member of the other tribe).

About genocide in Rwanda: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1288230.stm

on their soil - another way of saying 'in their countries'

aggravated - made worse

aggravated by the host summer weather - I think this is a typing mistake and it should be: hot summer weather.

stressing during Ramadan - this is a Muslim holiday in which people are supposed to 'fast' every day (to avoid eating) for 40 days from sunrise to sundown.  The holiday makes the situation more stressful for some people.

the generosity comes at a heavy price - because they are allowing people to come into their countries, they are being forced to spend a lot of money.

urgent - if something is urgent, it should eb taken care of immediately

to alleviate s/t - to make something better; alleviate is often used with the word suffering.  In order to alleviate the suffering of the patient, the doctor gave him some pain medication.

Life inside a refugee camp for Syrians

Here's a short article about the world's second largest refugee camp. Dadaab - a refugee camp for Somalian refugees - seems to be the largest in the world (based on what I was able to learn independently of the article).

Obviously the war in Syria has to end, yet it seems evident that if Obama supplies weapons to the 'rebels,' the war will continue. Indeed, if the rebels win, there will be another extremist Islamic government in that region.

The article:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-players-abc-news/life-syrian-refugee-look-inside-world-second-largest-110910811.html?vp=1

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

a refugee - someone who has to flee (escape) his/her home country in order to avoid being harmed in a war.

fled - past tense of flee.  flee, fled, fled

bordering - next to

to ensure - to make sure of

an exclusive interview - an interview only given to this source

a tragedy - in this case, suffering and pain due to the war

brutal - merciless, cruel, harsh, inhumane

a special envoy - a special messenger or spokesperson, like a special ambassador, or a famous person who can bring attention to a problem for the UN

to highlight the crisis - to draw greater attention to it

traumatized - if you are traumatized by something, you have seen or experienced something terrible and have been psychologically harmed

wounded - harmed

impacted by - affected by

a spill over into - the war might move into neighboring countries

a detonator - this is a device on a bomb that causes the bomb to explode.  If Syria is a detonator, it means it can cause wars to happen in other countries.

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Discussion/writing:

Do you think that having Angelina Jolie publicize or highlight the suffering in this camp is going to change anything? 

Even if this might not change anything, do you think the U.N. still needs to highlight the suffering of the Syrian people?  Why/why not?

Do you feel that Russia and the USA are to blame for this crisis?  If so, how?

What do you think the U.N. should do about this situation?

Should the USA supply guns to the Syrian rebels (those who are fighting against the dictatorship of Assad)?

Is there anything else the Obama administration can do to end this war (after all, President Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize 'winner.')?