FOX News:
The Bush administration plans to allow about 7,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the United States over the next year, a huge expansion at a time of mounting international pressure to help millions who have fled their homes in the nearly four-year-old war.
The United States has allowed only 463 Iraq refugees into the country since the war began in March 2003, even though some 3.8 million have been uprooted. A senior State Department official described the expanded program on condition of anonymity ahead of a formal announcement later Wednesday.
The administration also plans to pledge $18 million for a worldwide resettlement and relief program. The United Nations has asked for $60 million from nations around the world.
7,000 v. millions; not even a dent. Let me refer you back to a post I wrote in January.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that there are more 1,000,000 iraqi refugees in Syria, 700,000 in Jordan, between 20,000 and 80,000 in Egypt, 40,000 in Lebanon, and 1.7 million internally displaced in Iraq.
The UN reports that the iraqi refugee crisis is becoming the worst in recent memory, outpacing even the genocide in Darfur in terms of actual number of displaced people. The UN's figures for refugees totals 3,540,000. Iraq's population is 26,783,383, according to the CIA World Factbook. That means that more than 13% of iraqis have been displaced by our war.
7,000? The generosity is underwhelming. As the president who pushed us into this idiotic war, the refugee crisis in Iraq is entirely Bush's responsibility. It's not surprising that he shirks it off this way.
Tags: news | politics | war | Iraq | disaster | international | Bush | neocon | refugees
2 comments:
Arab refugees have been streaming out of Iraq over the last few years. This is a sad realization on how the war has effected the population. While the story of the Muslim refugees of Iraq is certainly compelling, the plight of the Jews of Iraq who were made refugees is also compelling and must also be acknowledged.
Prior to 1948, Iraqi society was one with a business community that was made up in large part by Jews—Jews that had lived in Iraq for over 2,600 years. However, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, Zionism became a capital crime and attacks and hatred toward the Jews mounted. Jewish property was expropriated; Jewish bank accounts were frozen; Jews were dismissed from public posts; businesses were shut; pensions were confiscated; trading permits were cancelled.
Jewish life and society in Mosul, Iraq of 1940, was not unlike the Jewish life and society of New York City of the same era. These were not poor people, these were Jews that owned business, buildings, commercial warehouses filled with merchandise, hospitals, synagogues, cars and homes. Over 100,000 Jews were displaced between 1949-1951, taking nothing with them. Jews wanting to leave could do so after having their citizenship revoked. Another 20,000 were smuggled out through Iran. Iraq’s government issued multiple discriminatory decrees and perpetrated violations of human rights against the Jews through a series of laws that expanded on the confiscation of assets and property of Jews. Because of repressive measures against them, and fearing for their lives, Jews fled Iraq as refugees taking nothing with them.
On two separate occasions the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ruled that Jews fleeing from Arab countries were ‘bona fide’ refugees who “fall within the mandate of (the UNHCR) office”. Yet, there was virtually no international response to the plight of close to 900,000 Jews who, since 1948, have been displaced from Arab countries such as Iraq.
Little has been heard about these Jewish refugees that resettled around the world, and there was never any compensation provided by the Arab governments that confiscated their possessions. We must remember, that as a matter of law and equity, no just, comprehensive Middle East peace can be reached without recognition of, and redress for, the uprooting, under Islamic regimes, of centuries-old Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa.
Shelomo Alfassa
Director, US Campaign
Justice for Jews from Arab Countries
www.justiceforjews.com
Very nice subject title!
I'd been writing about this for a while now, and tonight went out to see who else out there is. The number of people who are, compared with every other topic it seems, is depressing...
I'll link to Griper News on 'deadissue' http://deadissue.com
Take a look if you get a chance. Peace - DI
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