State Dept. defends Iraq refugee policy

[maddezmom]

Source: Associated Press

State Dept. defends Iraq refugee policy By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 26, 9:53 PM ET



WASHINGTON - The Bush administration defended itself Monday against congressional charges that it is not doing enough for thousands of Iraqi refugees, including many who are at great risk because of their service to the American-led coalition in Iraq.

Ellen Sauerbrey, who heads the State Department's refugee affairs bureau, said the administration is taking steps to accelerate admissions of Iraqi refugees to the United States.

~snip~

"Security clearances take an extreme amount of time," said Sauerbrey, testifying before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East.

Subcommittee chairman Gary Ackerman (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., said the number of Iraqi refugees admitted to the United States is "paltry," particularly compared with the 180,000 Vietnamese refugees who were granted U.S. admission during the first eight months after the fall of the Saigon government in 1975.

Sauerbrey said 692 Iraqis have resettled in the United States since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.





Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070327/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq_refugees_2

[chknltl]

1. Hmmm... how many thousands of Vietnamese refugees did we take in?

From what I understand...and my numbers come from watching a C-Span segment on this very topic, there are at least 7000 Iraqi interpreters working for the US Government. Each of these people AND their families are targets because of their association with the "American Occupation" There are many many more Iraqi's who have worked with us than 7000, that just happened to be the number that was quoted by the lady being interviewed. (She was a government official who works with refugees here in America...perhaps even the person in charge of the agency). The senators who interviewed her pointed out that at the end of the Viet Nam debacle, America took in tens of thousands of South Vietnamese refugees who were loyal to the US. When the senators asked how many we would be taking in from Iraq, the lady, obviously quite uncomfortable, responded with a figure of 700 per year. She claimed that this was because each one needed a thorough screening from Homeland Security.

I figured for sure this would be a HUGE hot button topic here in DU... Sorry, I did not get the name of this lady or the names of those senators who held the hearing...I just figured DU would be all over it anyway.

I ask: Why did we go to Iraq? To help the people of Iraq is what we are told... So why are we abandoning those tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens who are now doomed all because they had a family member who aided the Americans? DO WE REALLY GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF IRAQ? If we can NOT even come to the aid of the very Iraqi citizens who helped us, who believed in bushco's very cause, then what in God's name are we doing over there?

On edit: I went to C-Span archives and found the program. It aired 2 days ago. It was chaired by Rep. Gary Ackerman. The "lady" I mentioned is Ellen Saurberry, Assistant Secretary of State For Population, refugees and Migration. The link below is for this and other hearings. This particular one is the top one. I FIRMLY BELIEVE that one of our DU newshounds should watch this in it's entirety and do a story here.... to me, this is a STRONG indication that bushco has NO concern about the Iraqi people. This refutes any arguments that our government actually cares about those people...again I ask: WHY ARE WE THERE?

http://12.170.145.161/Search/advanced.asp?AdvancedQueryText=Iraqi+Refugees&StartDateMonth=12&StartDateYear=2006&EndDateMonth=&EndDateYear=&Series=&ProgramIssue=&QueryType=Match+Phrase&QueryTextOptions=&ResultCount=10&SortBy=date