John Hudson and Noah Shachtman
By John Hudson and Noah Shachtman
With conditions continuing to deteriorate in Syria, the Obama administration is making a major policy shift by agreeing for the first time to allow thousands of new Syrian refugees into the US, the Foreign Policy magazine has learnt.
The numbers are relatively small: just 2,000 refugees, compared to an estimated 2 million people who have fled Syria during the civil war. But it’s a significant increase from the 90 or so Syrian refugees who have been permanently admitted to the US in the last two years. And it’s not entirely non-controversial. The refugees, mostly women and children, will be screened for terrorist ties — a process that could take a year or more to complete.
Unlike previous efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to give temporary protected status to Syrians already in the US, the State Department effort will bring in Syrians from overseas for permanent resettlement in America.
“Referrals will come within the next four months. We will need to interview people and perform security and medical checks,” Kelly Clements, the State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, told Foreign Policy.
While aid workers welcome the decision to let in more refugees, concerns remain about the time it will take to process the applications and move them into the US “It’s 90 degrees now, but in a few months it’s going to snow and people are going to be freezing,” Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam America’s senior humanitarian policy adviser, said. “They don’t have many options, and many are living in unfinished buildings, abandoned shopping malls, schools, mosques and parking garages.”
But the eligible refugees will have to wait out the cold. By Clements’ own admission, given application processing times, “We’re not likely to see Syrian refugees into those numbers before well into 2014.”
Qualifying refugees include only the most vulnerable individuals — likely women and children — who were “exposed to everything from torture to gender-based violence to serious medical conditions” and have no intention of returning to Syria, Clements added.
Despite their vulnerable condition, even the youngest of children will be thoroughly vetted to ensure they do not pose a national security threat. Washington is not worried about infants enlisting in Al Qaeda. It is worried that terrorists can easily enter the US once they have relatives there.
“Refugees are subject to an intensive security screening process involving federal intelligence, law enforcement, defence and homeland security agencies,” a State Department official said. “The US government makes every possible effort to uphold and enhance the security screening aspects of the US Refugee Admissions Programme. Refugees are among the most carefully screened of individuals travelling to the US.” In cases such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress and the White House have been wary about opening the floodgates to refugees too wide, citing concerns about terrorism.
As a result, tens of thousands of refugees have been left waiting at the doors of American embassies there. Humanitarian groups are encouraging Washington to do more in Syria.
“It’s a welcome move by the US but they also need to do more to help the countries supporting refugees and support their infrastructure,” said Gottschalk, who has recently visited the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Other major resettlement countries, such as Germany, have pledged to bring in up to 13,000 refugees since the fighting began. However, unlike in the US, refugees to Germany are required to return after the fighting subsides. “We’re very proud of the fact that the US judges applicants on need and seek out the most needy cases,” Erol Kekic, Director of Immigration at the Church World Service, said.
The referrals come from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, which has been identifying and tracking the millions of refugees flooding into Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and elsewhere since the two-year-old conflict began.
Earlier this summer, the UN approached Washington about referring Syrian refugees to a group of 27 resettlement countries, including the US. Now, Clements told Foreign Policy, the US will not only participate but “will encourage other resettlement countries to do the same.” It’s yet to be seen if Congress will push back against the Obama administration’s acceptance of the Syrian refugees. Ordinarily, the US only admits refugees after a conflict has gone on for five years or longer. Though the State Department’s refugee admission program is authorised by a presidential determination, it does involve consultation with Congress.
Of course, admitting 2,000 Syrians won’t even begin to ease the suffering of Syria’s refugees; the UN estimates that by the end of 2013, 3.5 million Syrians will have fled the country. It’s also worth noting the 6.8 million Syrian people in need of humanitarian assistance. Clements emphasised that permanent resettlement is just one means by which the US is contributing to the humanitarian relief effort.
“We are exceedingly frustrated to be quite honest because we can’t keep up with the humanitarian need especially inside Syria,” Clements said. “We are expanding our support for humanitarian assistance through all sorts of angles, but we can’t keep up.”
WP-BLOOMBERG
By John Hudson and Noah Shachtman
With conditions continuing to deteriorate in Syria, the Obama administration is making a major policy shift by agreeing for the first time to allow thousands of new Syrian refugees into the US, the Foreign Policy magazine has learnt.
The numbers are relatively small: just 2,000 refugees, compared to an estimated 2 million people who have fled Syria during the civil war. But it’s a significant increase from the 90 or so Syrian refugees who have been permanently admitted to the US in the last two years. And it’s not entirely non-controversial. The refugees, mostly women and children, will be screened for terrorist ties — a process that could take a year or more to complete.
Unlike previous efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to give temporary protected status to Syrians already in the US, the State Department effort will bring in Syrians from overseas for permanent resettlement in America.
“Referrals will come within the next four months. We will need to interview people and perform security and medical checks,” Kelly Clements, the State Department’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, told Foreign Policy.
While aid workers welcome the decision to let in more refugees, concerns remain about the time it will take to process the applications and move them into the US “It’s 90 degrees now, but in a few months it’s going to snow and people are going to be freezing,” Noah Gottschalk, Oxfam America’s senior humanitarian policy adviser, said. “They don’t have many options, and many are living in unfinished buildings, abandoned shopping malls, schools, mosques and parking garages.”
But the eligible refugees will have to wait out the cold. By Clements’ own admission, given application processing times, “We’re not likely to see Syrian refugees into those numbers before well into 2014.”
Qualifying refugees include only the most vulnerable individuals — likely women and children — who were “exposed to everything from torture to gender-based violence to serious medical conditions” and have no intention of returning to Syria, Clements added.
Despite their vulnerable condition, even the youngest of children will be thoroughly vetted to ensure they do not pose a national security threat. Washington is not worried about infants enlisting in Al Qaeda. It is worried that terrorists can easily enter the US once they have relatives there.
“Refugees are subject to an intensive security screening process involving federal intelligence, law enforcement, defence and homeland security agencies,” a State Department official said. “The US government makes every possible effort to uphold and enhance the security screening aspects of the US Refugee Admissions Programme. Refugees are among the most carefully screened of individuals travelling to the US.” In cases such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Congress and the White House have been wary about opening the floodgates to refugees too wide, citing concerns about terrorism.
As a result, tens of thousands of refugees have been left waiting at the doors of American embassies there. Humanitarian groups are encouraging Washington to do more in Syria.
“It’s a welcome move by the US but they also need to do more to help the countries supporting refugees and support their infrastructure,” said Gottschalk, who has recently visited the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Other major resettlement countries, such as Germany, have pledged to bring in up to 13,000 refugees since the fighting began. However, unlike in the US, refugees to Germany are required to return after the fighting subsides. “We’re very proud of the fact that the US judges applicants on need and seek out the most needy cases,” Erol Kekic, Director of Immigration at the Church World Service, said.
The referrals come from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, which has been identifying and tracking the millions of refugees flooding into Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and elsewhere since the two-year-old conflict began.
Earlier this summer, the UN approached Washington about referring Syrian refugees to a group of 27 resettlement countries, including the US. Now, Clements told Foreign Policy, the US will not only participate but “will encourage other resettlement countries to do the same.” It’s yet to be seen if Congress will push back against the Obama administration’s acceptance of the Syrian refugees. Ordinarily, the US only admits refugees after a conflict has gone on for five years or longer. Though the State Department’s refugee admission program is authorised by a presidential determination, it does involve consultation with Congress.
Of course, admitting 2,000 Syrians won’t even begin to ease the suffering of Syria’s refugees; the UN estimates that by the end of 2013, 3.5 million Syrians will have fled the country. It’s also worth noting the 6.8 million Syrian people in need of humanitarian assistance. Clements emphasised that permanent resettlement is just one means by which the US is contributing to the humanitarian relief effort.
“We are exceedingly frustrated to be quite honest because we can’t keep up with the humanitarian need especially inside Syria,” Clements said. “We are expanding our support for humanitarian assistance through all sorts of angles, but we can’t keep up.”
WP-BLOOMBERG
