WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2008
U.S. Failing To Meet Iraqi Refugee Pledge
Admissions Of Refugees Into U.S. Are Falling Well Short Of Promised 1,000 A Month
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An Iraqi refugee that has just returned from Syria covers her face with her passport as she waits to collect government aid in Baghdad, Iraq, in this Nov. 29, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
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For the third straight month since the United States said it would improve processing and resettle 12,000 Iraqis by the end of the current budget year on Sept. 30., the number admitted has actually slid, the figures show.
The steady decline - from 450 in October to 362 in November and 245 in December - means the administration will have to allow in 10,943 Iraqis over the next nine months, or roughly 1,215 per month, to meet the target it has set for itself.
But that goal will be difficult to meet and there are few precedents for such large influxes since hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese refugees were resettled here after the Vietnam War ended in 1975.
In the past five years, with few exceptions, notably Somalia and Liberia, the United States has never been able to admit more than 1,000 refugees per month from any country, according to an AP review of statistics from the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
Iraqi refugees are subject to more security checks than those from almost all other nations and the most Iraqis ever admitted to the U.S. in a single month since 2003 was 889 this past September.
The administration has come under heavy criticism from advocacy groups and lawmakers for its poor performance on admitting Iraqi refugees who have fled violence since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Many critics say, and Bush aides have acknowledged, that the administration has a moral obligation to Iraqi refugees.
In response, it vowed to fix the problems that include bickering between the State Department, which is in charge of refugee resettlement, and the Homeland Security Department, which must screen would-be Iraqi admittees, and a lack of cooperation from countries, notably Syria, where many of the estimated 2 million Iraqi refugees are seeking shelter.
Two senior officials from the agencies were appointed in September to remedy the bureaucratic slowdowns, but four months later there has yet to be significant improvement, although the number allowed in so far in fiscal 2008 - now 1,057 - is nearing the total for the entire previous fiscal year of 1,608.
That fiscal 2007 figure was nearly 400 short of a modest annual goal of 2,000 and a big reduction from an initial target of 7,000.
U.S. officials have conceded that the figures remained low but insisted that improvements in processing, along with new cooperation from Syrian authorities, would lead to substantial jumps in the admissions figures from Iraq starting in early 2008. And they insisted Wednesday that the 12,000 target remained administration policy.
"The goals are still the same," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We haven't lowered the bar."
Yet, refugee advocates said Wednesday they are extremely disappointed that the administration's initiatives have yet to produce results, particularly as conditions for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and other neighboring countries worsen.
"This is quite a shocking result," said Ken Bacon, president of Refugees International. "We keep hearing they are bolstering the program, but the figures keep going down. The next months are going to be make-or-break for the program."
He said that persistent recent declines in admissions might be the result of the U.S. winter holiday season, which may have reduced the number of interviewers dispatched to screen refugees in the region, but Bacon stressed that the process should not be dependent on the vacations of American officials.
"That may reflect some of the slowness, but it doesn't mean the needs are becoming increasingly urgent during our holidays," Bacon said. "We're in a new year and without major holidays for the next few months, they ought to be able to ramp these numbers up. The problem is they keep promising and not delivering."
In addition to appealing for action to immediately boost U.S. admissions, Refugees International and 17 other advocacy groups have urged President George W. Bush to use his trip to the Middle East that begins next week to press leaders there for financial assistance to ease the plight of Iraqis who have fled their homes.
According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 2 million Iraqis have fled their country. Of these, 1.2 million are in Syria, 750,000 in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon, 10,000 in Turkey and 200,000 in various Persian Gulf countries.
The U.N. refugee agency has referred more than 14,000 Iraqis to the United States for resettlement.
In other developments:
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Add a Comment See all 101 Comments
- Iraqis resort to selling children
Heart Braking this article from Aljazeera.net
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F22B4D85-59F6-4778-8E9F-C15E7F1CDB40.htm
Walking-Liar, could you just send them only ONE PERCENT (1%) of the military budget for 2008. This children selling would not occur no more, for sure. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Hominatrix53 at 11:32 AM : Jan 03, 2008
You''''re a fvcking liar, moron. A lousy lying POS. You live in Tampa Bay? Do you have gills?
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mbcsmith: Another shining example of american idiocy. Did they let you out on work release, dear? - Reply to this comment
- "So you''''''''re okay with the United States breaking its word to help the people whose nation we invaded?"
I OK with it. Never should have promised it in the first place. They need to work on Iraq, Afghanistan or what country they come from. If it was that bad then now is the time to change it. Enough young American lives were given in order to give them this chance. They don''''t take this option of better that country then Flock ''''em.
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papabc: It''s no wonder this country is falling apart with your kind of attitude. Our word is our word. - Reply to this comment
- See brian, I am not the only one that thinks you are an idiot.
Posted by erasmus6
But when you read the rest of the posts from the person you quote from, you then begin to look as if you agree that the US has a right to kill any and everyone that they wish with impunity, for reasons as trivial as religion and or ethnic heritage.
This being the case, then I believe that most of the world would agree that yours is the most idiotic position. - Reply to this comment
- mbcsmith,,,, Your concept of debat ??? LOL --- You call people names & refuse discussions ----- Son, you wouldn''t know a debate if one fell in your plate.
- Reply to this comment
- witless
Thanks for proving my point once again. You are a debators dream. - Reply to this comment
- mbcsmith,,,, You want to support the troops ?? Then understand what it means & do it, stop being halfass ---
--- Most of us have much higher expetations than you do out of people & our incompetent White House
.... You want to keep trashing them ??? Then keep up your ignorance, Keep turing a blind eye on it for party politics - Reply to this comment
- mbcsmith,,,, You couldn''t make a point with a pencil sharpener ----- The only thing you''ve ever given us is dishonorable spin
- Reply to this comment
- witless
Thanks for proving my point once again. You are a debators dream. - Reply to this comment
- mbcsmith,,,, Bush has been disrespecting the troops from day one dude ---- Many are still waiting for the equipment & manpower they requested over 2 years ago
---- The wives of our troops & our troops want the full pay raise Bush isn''t giving them --- Your Love Affair with Bush has hurt our troops - Reply to this comment
- j witless
Now you know very well the LIB party keeps disespecting the troops, lying about Bush, promoting socialism and killing babies. It''s your party, be proud! - Reply to this comment
- mbcsmith,,,, Your party is the party of dishonor & lies ---- Aren''t you getting sick of creating conditions for human strife & using it for politics & self promotion ????
- Reply to this comment
- 382 DAYS 9 Hrs 0 Min 59.5 Sec
Add the Backwards Bush Countdown Clock to your website
DAYS
9 Hrs 0 Min 59.5 Sec
Add the Backwards Bush Countdown Clock to your website - Reply to this comment
- 9 Hrs 1 Min 20 Sec
Add the Backwards Bush Countdown Clock to your website
http://www.backwardsbush.com/ - Reply to this comment
- Hrs 3 Min 05.7 Sec -- Untill the worst President in the history of the United States is out of office
- Reply to this comment
- mbcsmith,,,, Libs may be funny --- But you people are totally dishonorable ----
---- This article shows how much your people spun the return of refugee''s, just more lies from the radical far right militants of Bush''s Faith Based. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Quetzal666 at 03:01 PM : Jan 03, 2008
LOL...LOL again. LIBS are soooo funny! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by mbcsmith ....
Saddam was a tyrant, but still even then there were no bombings or terrorists in the open,
there might have been elements of his government is the same bed, but for the ost part the UN was dealing with him.......... under this administration it has gone from bad to worse.
and the us treasury is feeling the squeeze..... - Reply to this comment
- Georege Bush liberated them of their peace and quiet,
liberated them from electricity, Food supplies Gasoline Supplies.
Replaced relative calm in a corrupt system with daily bombings after noon prayers,
Occupation, military rule. Posted by Quetzal666 at 01:54 PM : Jan 03, 2008
Yeah, that Saddam was a wonderful guy. LIBS are sooooo funny! - Reply to this comment
- GWB doesn''t want thousands of indigent Iraqi refugees streaming in during an election year. He doesn''t want to look like Carter during the Mariel exodus. Just wait till the elections are over.
- Reply to this comment
