The world is reacting to the deadly attacks that occurred in Paris on Nov. 13. More than 130 people have died from wounds of that day suicide bombers and shooters attacked bystanders at France’s national soccer stadium, cafés, restaurants, and a concert hall.
Aftermath of the attacks
Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian-Moroccan extremist, was discovered as the mastermind behind attacks in Paris by French officials. First believed to be in Syria, police received a tip that Abaaoud has slipped into Europe through Greece. Police then discovered that he had been hiding only 15 minutes away from Stade de France, where three suicide bombers had blown themselves up on Nov. 13.
A crucial piece of information in finding Abaaoud was a discarded cell phone, found in a trashcan outside the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people died. A text message on it said, “We’re off, its started.”
The cell phone had contact information for Hasna Aitboulahcen, Abaaoud’s cousin. Police raided her apartment Nov. 18, where Aitboulahcen detonated a suicide vest and died. Abaaoud’s mangled body was identified inside the damaged building by a fingerprint.
The French response
Because of the attacks, France has requested meetings of European interior and justice ministers in Brussels to discuss the fight against terrorism. Next week, the French President Francois Hollande is planning to fly to Washington and Moscow to push for stronger international coalition against the Islamic State.
Lawmakers in France have voted to extend the state of emergency to three months. Through this, police powers are extended, allowing them to forbid the movement of vehicles and people at specific times and places and allow them to execute searches and arrests, reported Associated Press.
It was announced that French forces have destroyed 35 Islamic State targets in Syria. After the attack, both France and the U.S. have carried airstrikes in Syria.
The U.S. response
The U.S. House voted 289-137 on Nov. 19 to have more security measures needing to be passed before Syrian and Iraqi refugees can enter the United States. This new bill would require new FBI background checks and individual sign-offs from three-high ranking U.S. officials before any refugee could come to the U.S. from Iraq or Syria, where the Islamic State group is strong.
Republicans have encouraged these higher restrictions, with Republican candidates such as Donald Trump and Ben Carson speaking out. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced, “It just is common sense that we pause, re-evaluate and make sure we have the proper standards in place to make sure something like what happened in Paris doesn’t happen here.”
What it means for refugees
For refugees coming to the U.S., the Paris attacks have made entry even more difficult, having to already go through interviews, fingerprinting and biometric investigations. Most refugees are women and children.
For refugees coming into Europe, some are fleeing to different countries, but are switching their minds due to each and every country’s reaction to the attacks in Paris. Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia have partially shut their borders, only allowing those refugees from war-torn countries to enter such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Refugees fleeing poverty are turned away, or “economic migrants,” from countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Iran. Even if they have a family member from a war-ridden country, they cannot enter.
BYUH student response
Most BYUH students heard about the attacks in Paris through social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.
“Some people changed their picture to the flag,” noticed Bew Phaoratsamee, a sophomore studying social work from Thailand.
“I was looking over Facebook when the terrorist attack happened. A lot of people changed their profile picture to the flag [of France],” said Brinley Barrett, a freshman studying voice performance with an emphasis in opera from Colorado. “It kind of was cool to me to see that people cared and that they would show their support.”
For Samantha Wong, a junior studying teaching English as a second language from Washington, she first heard about the attack from Instagram when she saw a picture of the Eiffel Tower in a peace sign. “I thought it was sad because there was another terrorist attack.”
Franky Ho, a sophomore from Hong Kong studying political science, said she thought the attention was positive.
Despite the outpouring of support for Paris, misinformation was spread all over social media in response to the attack, according to engadget.com.
When the Eiffel tower’s lights turned off at 1 a.m., people on social media assumed that it had been off for the first time since 1889 when in fact it was a regular occurrence every night. There was also controversy spread out about people putting the flag on their profile picture.
“It showed me there was a lot of controversy in this world because people were fighting over whether it was right or not to have the profile picture on,” said Barrett. She changed her profile picture because “for something horrible like that, I would change it.”