08 February 2008
United States Committed To Helping Iraqi Refugees
State's Foley says refugee needs growing more dire
Washington -- The United States, shouldering its "special responsibility" toward Iraqi refugees, is preparing to deliver millions of dollars in aid to refugees marooned in neighboring countries and resettle 12,000 refugees by September 30, according to the State Department's coordinator for Iraqi refugees, James Foley.
"We have a special responsibility. We did choose to try to improve the situation in Iraq with a lot of good intentions. The situation has proved to be extremely difficult and painful with major humanitarian consequences. We have a responsibility to help those people deal with their needs, and we hope that we are joined by all members of the international community, including in the region, to help stabilize Iraq so that these people may go home as quickly as possible," Foley said.
Foley said the United States contributed $171 million in the 2007 fiscal year to assist Iraqi refugees, who have fled mainly to Syria and Jordan. Congress recently passed a bill budgeting $200 million to support Iraqi and Palestinian refugees. Consultations are taking place in Washington on the exact sum to be apportioned to each group, he added.
"That will give a substantial start on our commitments in fiscal year 2008," Foley said. "But that will not be the end of the story. We will make further substantial contributions to the various international appeals and needs in regard to Iraqi refugees a bit later in the year." He said the appeals for aid for Iraqi refugees from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other U.N. agencies and aid organizations, such as the International Committee for the Red Cross, likely will exceed $700 million this year.
Although the net outflow of refugees from Iraq has diminished in recent months as neighboring countries have tightened their borders, the plight of the refugees has worsened, Foley said.
"Whatever resources the refugees left Iraq with are being depleted and so is their ability to sustain themselves and to avoid becoming an unbearable burden on the hosting countries," Foley said. "The international community increasingly is going to have to fill that gap."
The refugee coordinator expressed concern that reports in late 2007 of Iraqi refugees returning home might give rise to "the false belief that the refugee crisis is behind us or receding."
"The return into Iraq late last year was not a stampede. There still remain more than 2 million refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and elsewhere. Their needs are not going away. Their needs are probably increasing," he said. "No one can be under the illusion that our international responsibilities are behind us."
Foley singled out Jordan and Syria for "showing real solidarity with the Iraqi people" by accepting the bulk of the refugee population. He said the Iraqi government, which has the "responsibility and means," should do more to help the refugees by making good on its pledge of $25 million a year ago to ease the burden of host countries. "We believe that much more ought to be expected from the Iraqi government."
The United States aims to resettle 12,000 Iraqi refugees during the 2008 fiscal year, which ends September 30, but is open to taking in a higher number, if conditions permit, Foley said. "As far as the United States is concerned, we have a law that governs and determines the criteria for eligibility to be resettled in the United States. And really the essence of this determination is the persecution dimension. A refugee applicant must have a well-founded fear of persecution and a credible persecution profile story."
He said that only a small percentage of refugees, notably those who could not return safely to their homeland under any conditions, qualify for resettlement in a third country.
In addition, the U.S. government has allotted 5,000 Special Immigrant Visas for Iraqis who have served the U.S. government for at least one year and face the threat of danger or persecution for doing so. The people qualifying for Special Immigrant Visas will be allowed to come with their immediate family members -- spouses and children under age 18. The number of refugees from Iraq that eventually will be accepted for resettlement in the United States will depend on the developments inside Iraq. Each year, the administration determines the number of refugees it will admit worldwide and from that it accords a number to individual countries and regions. In 2008, the United States plans to accept 70,000 refugees from all over the world.
Refugee processing is functioning efficiently in Jordan, where the number of refugees who have registered with the United Nations has reached a peak of 50,000, according to Foley. Processing in Syria is in the "embryonic stage," but cooperation between the U.S. and Syrian governments on the issue has improved in recent months, Foley said.
The United States also plans to open a refugee processing facility inside Iraq. He could not give a date for when this facility will start operations.
