Another Bush Legacy:

Thousands of Iraq Refugees to Be Admitted to U.S.
At Least 12,000 to Arrive Over the Next Year, Officials Say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01333.html
By Paul Lewis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 21, 2007; 3:32 PM

Some 12,000 Iraqi refugees will be admitted to the United States over the next year as efforts to end long delays processing referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees begin to take effect, government officials told reporters this morning.

The new target means that 18% of the 70,000 refugees expected to be admitted to the United States next year will come from Iraq, and would represent a significant increase in the number and pace of Iraqis being admitted, according to the officials from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

The administration has been criticized by lawmakers and refugee groups for its failure to accept more of the estimated 2.2 million Iraqi refugees who have fled the country since the 2003 U.S. invasion. Tens of thousands of Iraqis who have fled the country, mainly to Syria and Jordan, are believed to have done so after they were targeted because of their work for U.S. or coalition authorities.

But the United States had dedicated few staff in the region to processing and vetting the refugees after they were referred by the U.N refugee agency, creating a huge backlog of people waiting to get into the country.

Officials said that of the 11,000 refugee applicants referred to the U.S. by the UNCHR this fiscal year, which ends September 30., only 1,135 have been admitted. Though a few hundred who have been authorized are scheduled to enter before the end of the month, officials admitted they will likely fall short of the target of 2,000 set by the State Department in February.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named diplomat James Foley senior coordinator for Iraqi refugee issues Wednesday, while Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff appointed immigration law expert Lori Scialabba as senior adviser. Both are expected to speed efforts to clear a bureaucratic logjam.

Terry Rusch, who directs the Office of Admissions at the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Affairs, said both the U.S government and UNHCR had little infrastructure in the region before February. There are now 180 staff in processing centers in the region as well as several State Department refugee coordinators and DHS adjudicators, she said, a more than three-fold increase since February, when there were just 50 staff working on the program.

The administration is facing continued difficulties in Syria, she said, because a number of U.S. officials have been denied entry visas.

"Not only has DHS not been able to get in to do more adjudications, but we have not been able to expand our own processing staff at the pace we would normally have done because of restrictions by the government of Syria," Rusch said.

Syria, which has absorbed 1.5 million Iraqi refugees--by far the most of any nation. But only 208 refugees have been admitted to the United States after being processed in that country.

Paul Rosenzweig, deputy assistant secretary for policy for DHS, described the government's efforts to create an infrastructure to improve refugee processing in the region as "heroic."

"You show me another government program that goes from a standing start, ground zero, to full on in six months," he said. "I understand that people are frustrated, but candidly I take a great deal of pride that people from DHS have been working overtime and on top of overtime."

Of the 4,300 Iraqi refugees interviewed by his department, he added, 753 have been rejected because of inconsistencies in their stories, criminal records or other reasons.

Bob Carey, vice-president for resettlement for the International Rescue Committee, responded that "it might have been heroic if the U.S. government had fulfilled or exceeded the commitment that was made to Iraqi refugees. Heroism has been displayed by the refugees who placed their lives and those of their families in danger by protecting U.S. soldiers, diplomats and principles."

Today's announcement came as the UNHCR said the number of Iraqis seeking asylum from industrialized countries during the first half of 2007 more than doubled from the same period last year.

Of the 19,800 Iraqis who requested asylum in 36 Western countries between January and June this year, most - about 9,300 - applied for asylum in Sweden. Greece received some 3,500 requests, followed by Spain with 1,500. Only 385 Iraqis sought asylum in the United States in that time period.