Letter of the Week: The U.S. needs to accept more Syrian refugees

I am grateful The Kansas City Star has been covering the Syrian refugee crisis.

Called the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II, millions of Syrians have been displaced internally and millions more have fled and are fleeing.

My husband and I recently returned from a visit to Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where we met with a group of young Syrian professionals.

The U.S. has accepted few Syrian refugees — about 1,500 of the nearly 4 million who have fled the violence. American citizens and residents of Kansas and Missouri, let us rally together and call upon our representatives so our government will accept more Syrian refugees.

A petition for the U.S. to accept more Syrian refugees has been started (http://wh.gov/iR9hZ). If 100,000 signatures are received by Wednesday, the White House has promised to give a response.

Nadia Schroeder of Roeland Park spent the first 18 years of her life in Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus and Jordan, where her father founded Questscope, which has aided disadvantaged youths and refugees for two decades.

This story was originally published September 27, 2015 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Letter of the Week: The U.S. needs to accept more Syrian refugees."