PEACE & SECURITY | Creating a more stable world
06 February 2008
United States To Welcome 12,000 More Iraqi Refugees in 2008
Two departments partner with international agencies to speed process
Washington -- It is a long road home for families displaced by war, but U.S. officials hope to offer as many as 12,000 Iraqis the chance to resettle in the United States by the end of 2008.
“This is a tall order, but it remains attainable,” James Foley, the State Department’s senior adviser on Iraqi refugee issues, told reporters in a February 4 briefing. He was joined by Tony Edson, a deputy assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, and Lori Scialabba, a senior adviser on Iraqi refugee issues from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Since 2003, approximately 2 million Iraqis have left the country and are residing in cities across the region, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While most intend eventually to return to Iraq, Foley said, their numbers and needs continue to grow.
Screening refugees for emigration to the United States is a complex process that involves several entities, explained Foley, including the departments of State and Homeland Security, UNHCR and other processing bodies. Also involved are nongovernmental organizations that refer possible candidates and the host governments sheltering the refugees.
“We’ve actually cut the average overall processing time in half, but it is still necessarily a multistage effort and delays can occur at virtually any point in the process,” Foley said.
After UNHCR’s 2007 decision to expand its presence in the region, Foley said, Iraqis were identified as potential candidates for emigration to the United States. After a year of redoubled efforts, all of the organizations involved in the process are working together to build a more effective refugee screening program, he said.
In addition, President Bush recently signed into law the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007, which calls on the State Department, which issues visas, and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration services, to step up joint efforts to help Iraqis who want to resettle in the United States.
Since mid-2007, said Foley, 3,040 Iraqis have arrived in the United States. The 2008 plan, he added, actually began with the fiscal year in October, meaning that 1,432 Iraqi refugees have already arrived this fiscal year. Past U.S. efforts to welcome thousands of refugees a month from Burma, Kosovo, Liberia, Somalia and Russia show that the goal for Iraqi resettlement remains feasible.
As many as 5,500 Iraqis could be processed for arrival by the end of March, Foley said, and 8,000 more by the end of June.
Scialabba said that DHS Citizenship and Immigration Services agents have interviewed 7,700 of an estimated 17,000 Iraqi applicants. An additional 5,500 are currently scheduled for interviews, and the remaining applicants will be reviewed as their applications are processed. She added that approximately 67 percent of applications have been approved, only 13 percent denied and the remainder put on hold for further processing.
Establishing regional processing centers to interview Iraqi refugee candidates and review their applications remains a significant challenge, said Foley, particularly in Syria, where a large number of Iraqi refugees currently are living.
“In Syria, we recognize the burden posed by an enormous refugee population and we appreciate the cooperation on this issue that has allowed us to resume refugee processing,” Foley said. “Still, limits on our refugee processing capacity there will make it hard for the program to reach its full potential.”
While two centers are operating in Amman, Jordan, DHS immigration officials make short-term visits to Cairo, Egypt, Istanbul, Turkey, and Damascus, Syria, to meet with officials and review refugee applications.
“Building up this capacity is simply not an overnight process and it continues to the present,” Foley said.
Meanwhile, the United States works closely with UNHCR, Foley said, providing $171 million in humanitarian assistance to displaced Iraqis both in and outside the country in 2007. The United Nations has doubled its appeal for Iraqi refugees, from $123 million in 2007 to $261 million for the coming year.
In January, the United States announced a $20 million contribution to a United Nations appeal to meet the medical needs of displaced Iraqis this year, Foley said, and Congress has budgeted $200 million for aid to Palestinian and Iraqi refugees.
“We expect to provide greater contributions later in the year, and that will certainly exceed what was provided last year,” Foley said. At the same time, he said, appeals from international organizations and nongovernmental groups continue to grow, and could exceed $700 million by the end of the year.
A transcript of the briefing is available on the State Department Web site. A fact sheet on humanitarian aid for Iraqi refugees is available on America.gov.
