refugee diplomacy

Iman Altaani cracks fresh pepper into a pot of sizzling ground beef and onions, surrounded by a group of students. Most have never tasted Syrian food, let alone cooked it. Helping people find commonality is, in large part, why Amanda Warner co-founded the non-profit organization Better Plate. For $30, students get a crash course in another country’s cuisine and a home-cooked meal – not from a trained chef, but from refugees recently resettled in Columbus and adjusting to life in America.

By far the greatest burden of receiving Syria’s refugees has fallen not on the United States or on Europe, but on Syria’s neighbors: Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Together, these countries are hosting most of the five million Syrians. [...] The Turkish city of Gaziantep sets an example in treating refugees humanely. [...] Refugees are allowed to work and have access to free health care and schools, and the government has repeatedly committed to creating a pathway to Turkish citizenship.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised to help more than 300,000 ­Rohingya refugees but warned her government would “take steps” to ensure Myanmar “take their nationals back”. Ms Hasina visited Kutupalong refugee camp at Cox’s Bazar yesterday to distribute aid and told tens of thousands of refugees her government would build a huge new camp to house a quarter of a million refugees.