The other Iraq crisis: State, DHS boost efforts to aid refugees

Representatives from the State and Homeland Security departments said this week they are committed to substantially increasing the number of Iraqi refugees admitted to the United States this year.

The Bush administration's goal of admitting 12,000 refugees in 2008 will be a stretch, but it is achievable, said James Foley, senior coordinator for Iraqi refugee issues at State, and Lori Scialabba, senior adviser to the DHS secretary on Iraqi refugees. Both positions were created last year after Congress pressed the administration to do more to help Iraqis displaced by war and sectarian violence, especially those who have served as interpreters for U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq and those who have openly supported the United States' role there.

Between April 2003 and March 31, 2008, the United States admitted only 4,933 Iraqi refugees -- fewer than half the goal for the current fiscal year.

At a Thursday hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, known as the Helsinki Commission, Foley called 2007 a "building year" for refugee assistance. "In 2006 we funded only one [nongovernmental organization] to assist Iraqi refugees, but in the course of 2007, we supported 10 new NGOs and programmed $18.5 million for health, education and other life-sustaining projects," he said.

"Although refugee and [internally displaced] populations have not grown significantly so far in 2008, we expect the needs of these existing populations to intensify," Foley said. The administration increased humanitarian assistance for displaced Iraqis to $200 million in 2008, up from $43 million in 2006.

The State Department and Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services bureau share responsibility for conducting background checks on all Iraqi refugee applicants. Scialabba said the process is complicated by number of factors unique to situation in Iraq.

For example, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has had to exercise his discretionary exemption authority to allow admission of hundreds of Iraqis who otherwise would have been barred from entry into the United States for providing "material support" to terrorist organizations. That's because so many Iraqis have paid ransom to secure the release of kidnapped family members.

"To allow as many qualified individuals as possible to travel this fiscal year, we have devoted additional resources to reviewing material support cases that may be eligible for duress exemptions," Scialabba said.

Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., chairman of the commission, said recent developments are laudable, but represent only small steps toward meaningful progress. "The increase in humanitarian assistance is a paltry sum compared to the $338 million our government spends each day on combat operations in Iraq," he said. Hastings noted that Sweden, with a population of 9 million, has accepted 34,000 Iraqi refugees since 2003.

Hastings also is calling on the government of Iraq to do more for its citizens. He and 10 colleagues sent a letter on Thursday to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki requesting that the Iraqi government pledge $1 billion to help displaced Iraqis. "Such action would demonstrate to the world that the Iraqi government is committed to repatriating those who fled the violence and promoting reconciliation among all Iraqi ethnic and religious communities," the letter said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees characterizes the current refugee crisis as the largest displacement of people in the Middle East since 1948. The group estimates that 4.5 million Iraqis currently are displaced: 2.5 internally and 2 million in Iraq's neighboring countries.

Michael Gabaudan, UNHCR's regional representative to the United States and the Caribbean, told the commission that approximately 1.5 million Iraqis have fled to Syria, 500,000 to Jordan, 50,000 to Lebanon, 40,000 to Egypt, 60,000 to Iran and 10,000 to Turkey.

"This is also a highly traumatized population," Gabaudan said. A recent UNHCR survey found that a quarter of the refugees had experienced the kidnapping of a family member; 77 percent endured aerial bombardments; shelling or rocket attacks; 80 percent witnessed a shooting; and 68 percent were interrogated or harassed by militias or other groups with threats to life. Three-quarters of the population knew someone close to them who had been killed or murdered.

The strain on Iraq's neighbors threatens to destabilize the entire region, Hastings said. Jordan, a strong ally of the United States with a population of 6 million, has received 500,000 Iraqi refugees -- an 8 percent increase in the country's population during a two-year period.

"To put this in perspective, it would be the equivalent of the United States enduring a stream of 24 million traumatized people across our borders in the same time frame," Hastings said.

"This situation does not bode well for long-term societal stability, and potentially makes the refugees vulnerable to influence by extremist groups who can provide assistance," he added.