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| Tens of thousands of Iraqis may come to U.S. in '09 |
| 2008-09-13 |
| The United States has surpassed its goal of admitting 12,000 Iraqi refugees this year and expects more, perhaps tens of thousands, next year, the State Department said on Friday. The United States expects to admit a minimum of 17,000 Iraqi refugees in fiscal 2009, which begins October 1, the department's senior coordinator for refugees said. Thousands more Iraqis and their family members could arrive through a special visa program for people who worked for the United States or its contractors. "I think you'll see the U.S. government admitting over the course of fiscal 2009 tens of thousands of Iraqis into the United States," coordinator James Foley told reporters. Up to 3,000 could come from Baghdad, where the United States began interviews this year, he said. So far this year, 12,118 Iraqi refugees have arrived and 1,000 more are booked to travel to the United States by the end of this month, when the U.S. fiscal year ends, he said. That marks a huge leap from just 1,600 Iraqis admitted in the previous year. That number drew widespread criticism from refugee groups that said Washington should do more to help millions of Iraqis who have fled instability and violence since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. The number is still lower than what some other countries have taken. Sweden, a country of 9 million people, has admitted over 40,000 Iraqis since 2003. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees estimates 2 million Iraqis are living abroad, mostly in neighboring Jordan and Syria. Some 2.5 million are internally displaced. One refugee advocacy group, Human Rights First, said it welcomed the news Washington had met its target for Iraqi arrivals in 2008 but that the "low" goal of resettling 17,000 refugees in fiscal 2009 should be raised to at least 30,000. "The number of Iraqi refugees we have welcomed to our shores is still just a fraction of those in need," said Amelia Templeton of the New York-based group. She said the U.N. refugee agency estimated that 85,000 Iraqi refugees from the most vulnerable groups would need resettlement next year. Foley called on the government of oil-rich Iraq to do more to help Iraqi refugees abroad as well as plan for returning Iraqis by addressing their needs for security, social services and property compensation. So far, he said, Iraq had spent only about $25 million to help its refugees abroad, and provided about $200 million for an initiative to help returning refugees. The latter amount was "rather small," considering the number of Iraqi refugees and the improving security situation inside Iraq, Foley said. "One cannot rule out in these situations the possibility that the refugees in large numbers themselves will decide it's time to go back, but will the Iraqi government be ready for that? That's what we have to prepare for I think," Foley said. The United States spent over $318 million in humanitarian aid for Iraqi refugees this year, Foley said. Washington sought support from other donors, "particularly in the region, not to mention, the government of Iraq itself." Foley said he was grateful that Syria, a country with which the United States has strained relations, had agreed to a new facility for refugee processing, which would enable Washington to handle larger numbers of refugees. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #35 Sorry there Babs. |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2008-09-13 21:30 |
| #34 You stay classy, hellfish. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-09-13 21:13 |
| #33 No thanks, make your shit hole work. We've done enough. |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2008-09-13 20:09 |
| #32 Didn't take him long. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-13 18:37 |
| #31 The traslator that worked with my brother in Iraq came here. He was planning on going to Dearborn, but never made it farther than VA. When asked why he didn't go to MI, he said, "I'm sick of Arabs". |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2008-09-13 18:23 |
| #30 I know an Iraqi Kurd who came here 8-10 years ago, fine fellow, and just discovered another engineer on the project is from Baghdad, but after 20 years in Canada and ten here, I doubt he's going back. On the other hand, an Afghan engineer I know went back to Afghanistan for a year, to help out his country. Brave guy, huh? They're not all Osama bin Laden. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-09-13 18:15 |
| #29 OS, Nimble, Darrell et al make a good point: some of the Iraqis who come over will indeed stay. I do wonder how many will, since these are exactly the kinds of people who are most loyal to the ideal of an Iraq, and are ones I would think would want to go back when they can. But I dunno. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-09-13 17:00 |
| #28 You are missing the point. The State Dept was fast-tracking the Saudis who did 9/11. It's not that I dislike Somalis or Saudis -- I dislike a blyth and incompetent State Dept importing the fifth column These people are neither Saudis or Somalis. And saying you want something without bothering about knowing the details is just giving the state department another weapon to use against us. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-09-13 16:43 |
| #27 What does DoS BS have to do with assisting DoD contributors. No doubt it's 80/20. For now I have little problem believing there are 8,000 Iraqi's who helped us and deserve our protection. If 2,000 freeloaders come along, I can live with it. And you never know how these folks might help 5-10 years down the road. Or how they can hurt us if we stab them in the back as we all too often do to the natives who put their necks on the line for us. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-13 16:24 |
| #26 You are missing the point. The State Dept was fast-tracking the Saudis who did 9/11. It's not that I dislike Somalis or Saudis -- I dislike a blyth and incompetent State Dept importing the fifth column |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-09-13 15:49 |
| #25 Ah, so we should judge all the people who lost family members for siding with us (and, what's more, hurt the country to boot) because you don't like Somalis? Sheesh. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-09-13 15:38 |
| #24 I'll concede there are some noble allies in their midst -- but 10000? Let's wait to hear from the good people of St Paul, MN and Greely, CO about those noble Somali refugees before we fling open our doors. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-09-13 15:22 |
| #23 What good are allies if they are here instead of there? What good are allies that are always selling you out? That's the sort of 'ally' you'd see the United States be. And that's precisely why Bin Laden thought he could get away with attacking the WTC. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-09-13 15:20 |
| #22 And just to flesh that out a little more - the specific woman I'm describing was 23 when she volunteered to translate for the first US units in northern Iraq. She's tri-lingual. When she started there were no forward operating bases she or her family could move onto for safety. We think our soldiers are brave - she did this without body armor, without much in the way of anybody on overwatch as she went to and from patrols ... The other sister, one year older, was shot up on the street by insurgents who mistook her for the translator. Then they blew up her family's home killing her parents but not realizing she was elsewhere ... She is an ally, not a charity case, and deserves a place here. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-09-13 15:09 |
| #21 You sacrifice for your allies, regular joe, because they sacrificed for you. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-09-13 15:08 |
| #20 What good are allies if they are here instead of there? |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-09-13 15:05 |
| #19 Assuming they can, Frank.  But winding down the insurgencies doesn't automatically bring with it an end to revenge killings.  In the case of one Iraqi translator I know, her father, mother and 2 of her 4 sisters were murdered because of her work with our troops. And not in a single incident, either - her youngest was shot in front of her elderly parents as a warning to her to stop 'collaborating'.   She has more than earned the right to build a life here IMO. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-09-13 15:02 |
| #18 Too bad. Looking ahead we're not going to do any nation building next time. Next time we will fight to destroy our enemies --not to bring them civilization. You're fighting now that we should sell out the people who sided with us. Dude, I hate to tell ya, but that's the reason we lost the Vietnam war. You're trying to put a look-at-me, I'm-a-tough-guy spin on a Jane Fonda strategy of stabbing your allies in the back. |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-09-13 14:59 |
| #17 I stand by my comment OS. They are better for Iraq if they stay and improve their own country |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-13 14:53 |
| #16 Sorry I have buyers remorse. These fine folks were promised asylum when things were going badly --now things are going better, so they can stay. Are we breaking a deal? Too bad. Will this hurt us in future "nation building?" Too bad. Looking ahead we're not going to do any nation building next time. Next time we will fight to destroy our enemies --not to bring them civilization. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-09-13 14:34 |
| #15 We have helped resettle several Assyrian Christian families - and they are good people whose sons are still over there assisting US forces, which had made them targets. One has started a "middle eastern" small grocery and is hiring family and friends, the others are working in their trades (carpenter, ironic they are replacing illegal mexicnas with legal refugess), one is a civill engineer and is driving a taxi while he gets his professional certifications done. Now you idiots who are slamming them, I dare you to come here and call these folks the things you do here. I'll beat your ass silly. I dont put up with the KKK nor do I put up with KKK types like you. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-09-13 14:30 |
| #14 We take clean running water, 24-hour-a-day electricity, sanitary sewers, mass transportation, medical care, and 40,000-item supermarkets for granted. They don't. They're not going back, so welcome them for the allies that they are. |
| Posted by: Darrell 2008-09-13 14:14 |
| #13 I've only met a handful of Iraqis who've been working with us but if they are the kinds of people being admitted, I say let 'em come. It's a shame Iraq will lose them, but they have a much better chance of contributing here and raising productive kids here than there, unfortunately. Some of the women I've met are incredibly brave, hardworking and smart - and they aren't all Kurds, either. Just the kind of people whose kids and grandkids have made real contributions to America over the years. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-09-13 12:59 |
| #12 Nice hope, Steve, but I doubt it. They've burned too many bridges and when they get over here, the kids become anchors. It's just too hard to take them back. I hired a Bulgarian who still had extended family in the old country. He swore he was going back. Two years after the first kid was born, he applied for permanent citizenship. That's part of why we're such a threat to Osama & Islam in general. While it has lots of problems, people prefer modernity and western civilization. Sort of like why people left the family farm. It's romantic from the city, but a hard life up close. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-13 12:50 |
| #11 Lotp, as usual, nails it. These aren't people who are going to cause trouble, these are (mostly) the people who have been working with us. And I would hope that the move to the U.S. would be temporary for most of them -- as Iraq continues to improve, more of them will decide to return to the old country. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-09-13 12:34 |
| #10 Yes. Also translators and those involved in exposing some of the terror networks in areas where it's still dangerous. |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-09-13 11:16 |
| #9 Would some of those "most vulnerable groups" be the Iraqi Christians and Jews? |
| Posted by: James 2008-09-13 10:02 |
| #8 Asp meet breast |
| Posted by: regular joe 2008-09-13 09:23 |
| #7 OA - troll for the morning. As to the right to bear arms. Iraqis get to keep their AKs in their own country, something the citizens of the likes of Chicago and Washington DC don't [regardless of SCOTUS]. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-09-13 08:58 |
| #6 Maybe it's just my small world view but I wouldn't consider moving a few hundred km to a neighbouring country as moving abroad - that's more like moving interstate. To my mind changing continents would fit the 'abroad' bill. However, I live in a state where the capital city is 1800 km away. |
| Posted by: Gladys 2008-09-13 08:04 |
| #5 Honor bound? Explain the concept. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-09-13 07:56 |
| #4 Most of Iraq's 3,500,000 refugees are Sunni militants who were chased away by the Shiite government in Baghdad. Bush chose to reignite the 1400 year civil war so his supporters are honor bound to pay for policing tens of thousands of potential jihadis in their own backyards, and making sure their welfare is taken care of, at all costs. The Sunni hijra mob will all appreciate the right to bear arms. |
| Posted by: Open Arms 2008-09-13 06:59 |
| #3 WTF indeed! They should be staying there to rebuild their own country |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-09-13 06:14 |
| #2 Uh, yeah. WTF?!?!?? |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2008-09-13 04:21 |
| #1 85,000 Iraqi refugees from the most vulnerable groups would need resettlement here next year. 1). 4-FOUR wives for Muslim Male 2). 8-to-16 chillreens for each wife 3). De anchor chillreens allow wife to bring over all of her relatives over. 4). These chillreens are gonna be Muslims of course of course of course, needing Mosques of course of course of course. Food, Cloths,HealthCare,School,Police, Fire,ETC. 5). Because of their refugee status You and I get to pay for everything! YOU LUCKY DAWG! |
| Posted by: Red Dawg 2008-09-13 02:45 |