Remember the Holocaust: Rescue today’s refugees

In 1951, nations united to establish a Refugee Convention and share responsibility for those who no longer had a home. Among the displaced were hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees and asylum seekers.

For the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the Refugee Convention came too late. In the aftermath, the world promised that never again would refugees be pushed back into the hands of their persecutors, as the United States, Canada and Cuba did in 1939 when they turned back the St. Louis ship, carrying more than 900 refugees who had tried to flee Nazi Germany.

Yet today there are more refugees and displaced persons — 65 million — than there have been since World War II. Refugees are again being wrongly perceived not as a people who are threatened themselves, but as a people who threaten our security. This rationale was used to limit Jewish immigration in the 1930s and 1940s. Western countries are using similar prejudices to limit resettlement of refugees from predominantly Muslim countries.

The 135- year- old organization HIAS demonstrates Jewish communal support in welcoming refugees. For many years, HIAS helped refugees because they were Jewish. Now we help refugees because we are Jewish.

While the U. S. government decides how many refugees may enter, it is local communities and faith- based agencies that coordinate with the government to welcome refugees — finding housing and furniture, teaching English, and helping find jobs.

The refugee situations of today might be different from those which caused Jews to flee in the Nazi era. But the public and political sentiments that prevent refugees from finding a new place to call home are similar. Refugees, by definition, have a well- founded fear of persecution. Yet too many nations and people seem to have an unfounded fear of refugees.

Leaders have an opportunity to reverse these unfortunate trends when they meet at the United Nations to address the large- scale displacement of people, including the millions forced to flee as a result of the Syrian conflict. President Obama will convene dozens of heads of state Tuesday with the goal of increasing resettlement, humanitarian aid, and opportunities for school and work.

These leaders might not be able to come up with a plan to solve the crisis this week, but they must commit themselves to a vision on which such plans can be built. By working together, countries can hold one another accountable. They should make a collective pledge to resettle at least 10% of the refugees each year and provide much more assistance for their integration.

Now is the time for the world to recommit to the ideals and promises of the Refugee Convention. In memory of the 6 million who perished in the Holocaust, including 254 refugees returned to Europe aboard the St. Louis, it is up to all of us to live up to the promise made in 1951 to protect and welcome those who flee.

Millions of lives have been on hold for too long.