Germany’s Angela Merkel supports helping Iraqi refugees return home

Iraq’s prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is visiting Germany this week. Deutche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster, reports:

Speaking to reporters after talks with Chancellor Merkel in Berlin, al-Maliki said he also wanted to encourage the thousands of Iraqis who fled the spiraling violence in their country in recent years to return home without forcing them to do so. His government did not discriminate between Muslims and Christians, or between Sunnis and Shias, he added.

 

Chancellor Merkel reacted positively.

 

The Iraqi government has stated that the security situation is improving and that “it will adopt a program on the return of refugees within the next 60 days,” Merkel said. “I think we should back plans to see the greatest number return home, with necessary encouragements,” she said, adding that Germany would brief its EU partners on the Iraqi position at a meeting of interior ministers on Thursday this week.

 

Maybe Merkel should get on the phone with President Bush and tell him to overrule the gaggle of NGOs, volags, UN officials and other self-interested parties who want to resettle as many Iraqis as possible in foreign countries. Instead he could immediately announce that helping as many refugees as possible return home is now official U.S. policy, and he will work with her and Maliki and any other nations that want to join in to help make this happen. Maliki’s government has had ongoing problems implementing its plans, so concrete help would no doubt be welcome. We already have a few people in Iraq, don’t we? Why can’t some of them work on this pressing issue?

 

(There is always the possibility that the U.S. is working on it already. We’d never know from our own media.)

 

Sunni sheikh is protecting Chaldean Christians

This very positive report comes from Steve Schippert at National Review. Of course you wouldn’t see it in the mainstream media; it has to be a conservative publication that tells us good news about Iraqi Christians and Muslims.

…not many are aware that Sheikh Ahmed al-Rishawi’s Iraq Awakening Movement (Sahwah al-Iraq), which led the rejection of al-Qaeda from within Iraq, is also the protector of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholics — not only in Fallujah’s Anbar Province, but throughout Iraq, wherever the Awakening’s “Sons of Iraq” anti-al-Qaeda forces can be seen patrolling the streets.

Schippert quotes a Catholic website called Against the Grain:

As readers are no doubt aware, by virtue of their Christian faith, the Chaldeans have been subject to horrible persecution, the imposition of jaziyah, kidnappings and even targeted assassinations by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

As my source reports, Sheikh Iyad has apparently agreed to join the Sahawa [Awakening], allowing Sheikh Ahmad to add “Protector of the Chaldean Catholics” to his list of formal titles in a public ceremony covered by Arab media:

After hearing Sheikh Iyad’s account of the suffering that the Chaldean Catholics have endured in Iraq, Sheikh Ahmad publicly declared that from this time forward they would be under his protection, that anyone who killed a Chaldean will be regarded as one who has killed in a member of his tribe (under the medieval Islamic concept of qisas this is a capital offense), and money will be provided from the Sahawa al-Iraq treasury to rebuild the churches and cemeteries that al-Qaeda destroyed. He justified this by quoting from the Qu’ran and stating that there should be no compulsion in matters of religion because truth stands free from error.

Consequently, in a moment of Muslim-Christian solidarity, it would appear that the Chaldeans have a new and very significant protector from persecution at the hands of Al Qaeda.

Then Schippert comments:

Maybe so so few actually know this because nothing blew up to make the evening news. Regardless, shame on me for not writing on the Iraq Awakening’s embrace and protection of Iraq’s tormented Chaldean Catholic community when it happened.

If only more Americans knew of such things: Armed Sunnis protecting Iraqi Catholics, Sunni and Shi’a working together in Anbar protecting each other, and each of them wanting American forces to stay and see them through.

This answers many questions I have been asking. The sheikh is protecting the Chaldeans from al Qaeda. No mainstream media outlet that I’ve seen has made this clear. The Christians are always under threat from “Muslims,” “Iraqi Muslims” or some other vague term. Since the Christians lived among the Muslims in Iraq for many centuries I did not understand why their neighbors would suddenly turn on them. As I suspected, it was al Qaeda that was targeting them.

What I still don’t understand is why the media don’t report this. I understand why they don’t report cooperation between Muslims and Christians: that might provide a bit of positive news that could make the hated George Bush look good. But why imply that ordinary Iraqis are trying to exterminate their Christian neighbors if that is not the case? Perhaps they just can’t be bothered to find out the truth.

If this cooperation and protection is widespread, it means that perhaps at least some of the Iraqi Christian refugees can go home. So I am going to stop saying that we should try to resettle all the Iraqi Christians, at least until I can find out more.

Will Obama bring hope and change to Iraqi refugees?

Many of the articles on Obama’s trip to the Middle East mention that he will talk to leaders about the Iraqi refugees. In Jordan, the L.A. Times reports,

Regional stability, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the fate of Iraq war refugees were likely topics of discussion between Obama and the king, advisors said.

CNN says,

Obama and his senate colleagues [Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed] stressed the importance of doing more to help Iraqi refugees, who have fled the country, as well as those who are displaced within Iraq.

And so on. I’d like to know, if Obama is so concerned about helping the Iraqi refugees, why hasn’t he? He doesn’t have to wait until he’s president; he’s a U.S. senator now. What’s stopping him from working with a colleague in the House to write a bill to aid the refugees? But Obama has a history of being all talk and no action.

A kook and a bully introduce a bill to bring more Iraqis to the US

Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and John Dingell (D-MI) re-introduced a bill this past week to increase by a minimum of 20,000 the number of Iraqi refugees we will bring to the US each year.  Now it’s not clear to me if this is 20,000 over the State Department’s 12,000 and over the additional 5000 Congress (Sen. Ted Kennedy) shoved down the Administration’s throat attached to the Defense Authorization bill earlier in the year.

Here is a portion of Hastings press release in which he thanks the groups who are supporting this effort.  NGO’s would get increased funding to do this work if the bill passes.

(Washington, D.C.) Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, lauded prominent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and religious groups for their support of the Iraqi Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement, and Security Act (H.R. 6496). The following organizations have endorsed this legislation: The Campaign for Innocent Victims of Conflict (CIVIC), Church World Service, Congregation of Divine Providence of San Antonio, Education for Peace in Iraq (EPIC), International Rescue Committee, the Leadership Conference on Women Religious, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Mercy Center, Mercy Corps, NETWORK, Open Society Policy Center, Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement, the Presbyterian Church (USA), Refugees International, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Sisters of St. Joseph NW PA, and Save the Children.

Last night, Hastings and Dingell reintroduced H.R.6496, which addresses the impending humanitarian crisis and potential security break-down as a result of the mass influx of Iraqi refugees into neighboring countries, and the growing internally displaced population in Iraq, by increasing directed accountable assistance to these populations and their host countries as well as facilitating the resettlement of Iraqis at risk.

Read the bill (HR 6496) here (you will need to re-enter the bill number).   I couldn’t find any mention of how we could help refugees already returning to an increasingly stable Iraq.   I am such a cynic, but there is nothing in it for these groups if Iraqis go home.

And, as for the comment above that the internally displaced population is growing, where are they getting that information?

Refugees International: Bring the Iraqi Palestinians here now!

Refugees International an NGO (Non-governmental organization) that lobbies to bring more refugees to America is taking up the cause of Iraqi Palestinians caught at the border of Iraq.   The reason these Iraqi Palestinians were fleeing Iraq, according to a Brookings Institution report, is that they were favored by Saddam Hussein and he encouraged their residence in Iraq.  When Saddam met his fate, they fled their homes in an attempt to escape irate Iraqis who had been persecuted by Saddam’s regime.  In other words, it was payback, so don’t let them make you feel guilty, they were not fleeing American military action.

Recently a plan has developed to send 3000 of these Palestinian Iraqi refugees to Sudan—a decision which has really ticked off Refugees International and their ilk.   Bring them here they say: 

Approximately 34,000 stateless Palestinians have lived in Iraq since 2003. Since the beginning of U.S. military operations in Iraq, many suffered persecution at the hands of the Iraqi government and other armed groups. More than 3,000 fled to the Syrian-Iraqi border, where they live in makeshift tents in the desert with limited access to basic services. Syria refuses to allow them to enter its territory and only a few have been resettled, mostly to Sweden and Chile. Failure to act on the part of the U.S. government and other resettlement countries led UNHCR to sign a tripartite agreement with the PLO and the Government of Sudan that called for the relocation of this population to a neighborhood of Khartoum.

“We must not allow this vulnerable population to be used as pawns in a greater political game,” said Younes. “The U.S. government should acknowledge the vulnerability of this stateless population and resettle them here. It is appalling that Sudan, a country infamous for its violations of international humanitarian law, has stepped in to protect these people when the U.S. would not.”

To resettle this vulnerable population expeditiously, Refugees International urged the U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration to create a special category to process refugee applications. Any process should be held without prejudice to the Palestinians’ right to return to their homeland.

Note that the PLO has been involved in this.  I would like to know why rich Arab countries like Saudi Arabia can’t begin to resettle Muslim refugees into their Muslim country.  Or why won’t Muslim Jordan and Syria let them in?

If we take any (we probably will) lets make sure, as Judy suggested the other day, that they go to cities like Berkeley, CA!  What the heck, put all 34,000 in a city that loves the Palestinian cause.  Maybe the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society could get the government contract to do the resettling.

Iraqi refugees are returning; Iraqi government allocates aid for refugees

The BBC translates a broadcast from Al-Iraqiyah TV, Baghdad, July 14:

Iraqi Government Allocates 150 Billion Dinars for Displaced Families

- “Iraqi Government Spokesman Dr Ali al-Dabbagh has said that the Council of Ministers adopted a number of measures and steps as part of a continuing effort to encourage and expedite the return of refugees and displaced persons to their homes after the improvement of the security situation. In a statement, a copy of which was received by Al-Iraqiyah, Al-Dabbagh said that the cabinet adopted, during its 30th ordinary session held in Baghdad yesterday, measures to facilitate the return of refugees and displaced persons to their original areas.”

The television anchorman then holds a telephone interview with Abd-al-Samad Rahman, Iraqi minister of immigration and displaced persons.

Asked about the measures to facilitate the return of the Iraqi refugees, Rahman says that there will be coordination with the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration to facilitate the return of the refugees to Iraq. He says that 150 billion Iraqi dinars have been allocated to support the displaced families.

(150 billion Iraqi dinars equals about 125 million U.S. dollars at today’s rate.)

Asked about the number of those who returned to Iraq, he says that some 10,000 Iraqis return to Iraq on a daily basis.

If that number is correct, it means that 70,000 Iraqis return each week, 300,000 a month. I wish I had some way of knowing whether this is true. If it is, the UN, the refugee agencies and the media can stop hollering about the worst humanitarian crisis in history. At this rate, in ten months all the refugees will be back in Iraq.

Evangelicals and Iraqi Christians in Jordan

Last October we posted an article by Ken Timmerman in Newsmax on the discriminatory treatment Christians were getting by the UN refugee agency in Jordan.  Timmerman was part of a delegation of Christians who visited Jordan to investigate the treatment of Christian Iraqi refugees.  I didn’t realize it before, but two members of the delegation started a blog, Christian Refugee Crisis: Bill Murray, chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, and Father Keith Roderick of Christian Solidarity International.

They don’t post very often, but there’s some good information in their dispatches. This morning Murray posts on Christians and Evangelicals in Jordan. He summarizes the situation of Christians in Jordan — not good, of course.

There are some churches that can operate openly in Jordan and assist Iraqi Christian refugees such as the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. This does not mean that they have the same liberties as they would in a nation such as the United States. Unlike the evangelical efforts some of the assistance to Iraqi Christians by the Catholic and Orthodox churches can be learned about online. However, the Jordanian government remains weary [sic -- he means wary] of evangelical Christians and last year expelled numerous pastors and missionaries who were not Jordanian citizens. 

I’ve read in other sources that evangelicals have been a disruptive influence in the Middle East. The ancient indigenous churches are having a difficult time, but they have longstanding relationships of some kind with their societies.  It would seem better for foreigners who wish to help Christians to work through the existing churches. But of course the ancient churches are Catholic, and evangelicals are usually not fond of Catholics, so they set up their own organizations and attempt to convert the Catholics, as well as Muslims insofar as they can get away with it. (I am no expert on this and am willing to hear other viewpoints.) Murray’s organization delivered $24,000 worth of medical supplies last week. Murray’s conclusion:

The pain of these people will stop only when the government of the United States admits to its responsibility and assists them to resettle. Our government just will not take on this responsibility and still sends all refugees to the UNHCR. The Administration’s policy is that Christians face no persecution in Iraq, that their pain and suffering is caused by criminal gangs. This attitude must change.

I knew that our government will not give the Iraqi Christians special treatment, but I did not know there was a policy that they are not persecuted in Iraq. This is a terrible policy. As we’ve said before, we have a special responsibility to the Christians who have been displaced because of their religion. We should establish a safe zone for them in Iraq and resettle them there; insofar as that is not possible, we should give them priority to come to the United States.

Bertha Avila speaks out: why Iraqi refugees to US?

I don’t know Bertha Avila of Marysville, CA.   I just came across her letter to the editor because the List Project blog takes her to task for asking why we are bringing Iraqis to the US.   Good question Bertha, we have asked the same thing now that Iraq is beginning to get back on its feet.  And, Bertha, you have a right to ask that question without having your character impugned by a bunch of New York City lawyers.

She must be ignorant and hate-filled they say.

Here is Bertha’s letter:  

 

The Department of Homeland Security has recently allowed refugees from Iraq to settle in our country through a program called U.S. Refugee Admission Program, and as of June 4, 6,480 Iraqis have been admitted into the USA and an additional 27,940 Iraqis referred to DHS for interviews, with approvals growing each day.

Iraq was considered a global terrorist threat. We go to war to prevent terrorism and then we turn around and welcome their displaced citizens into this country giving them special visas and loans to travel and all the benefits such as welfare, food and medical services while our own government is facing a recession?

I am puzzled and can’t understand the fairness of this country. One day U.S. sons and daughters fighting in this bloody war will come home to be neighbors with the sons and daughters of the of the enemy enjoying the benefits they will only hope for.

Go to www.USCIS.gov and read all about this program.

 

Here is what the List Project blog says about a woman who is probably just your average citizen asking a good question.  You go girl!

It is really sad to see an American think of an Iraqi refugee as an enemy. This is either ignorance or simple hatred or maybe both.

…there is this American woman named Bertha Avila from Marysville who is shocked to see Iraqis, whose lives were destroyed because of her [what, not your country List Project lawyers] country, being resettled and compensated for what they lost in Iraq.

What Bertha doesn’t seem to understand or maybe doesn’t seem to want to understand is that once upon a time those Iraqis had a relatively normal life compared to their destroyed life after her [what, not your country too, List Project lawyers] country invaded theirs.

So who is sounding hate-filled now?    What the lawyers at the List Project aren’t telling you is that 365 would-be Iraqi refugees have been found to have terrorist ties and have been turned down for resettlement in the US, see our previous story here.  They want you to believe everyone of the millions they claim were displaced by us (not by insurgents, not by Al-Queda, not by Saddam) are just poor struggling good folks.  Some are and some aren’t.

Everybody is failing the Iraqi refugees, says think tank

Agence France-Presse reports:

AMMAN (AFP) - An international think tank slammed the Baghdad government on Thursday for what it called a lack of generosity towards millions of Iraqis who have fled the conflict in their country over the past five years.

“The Iraqi government deserves no praise. Flush with oil money, it has been conspicuously ungenerous toward its citizens stranded abroad,” the International Crisis Group said.

…”The Iraqi government should assume its responsibilities toward citizens turned refugees by stepping up direct and indirect support, providing a mechanism to support refugees willing to return,” the report said.

A while back the Iraqi government was talking about wanting the refugees to come home and giving financial incentives. I haven’t read anything since then. In other areas the government seems to be getting its act together; I wonder why there is no new action on bringing back the refugees.

I’m not sure this report can be trusted, though. Either the reporter or the think tank is confused. On the one hand, it says:

Both Syria and Jordan have repeatedly complained that the influx was stretching their resources and appealed for international assistance.

On the other hand:

It called on Syria and Jordan to do more, saying they imposed “tough restrictions on entry. They provided few basic services and inadequate opportunities for jobs, health care and children’s education.”

And then it tries to solve the contradiction:

“If the host countries can be faulted for unfriendly treatment of refugees, they deserve credit for receiving so many at great cost to their own societies.”

Not a very helpful report. It would be more useful to learn what is actually going on with the Iraqi government and why more refugees are not returning now that much of Iraq is pacified. Or are they returning and we’re not hearing about it? Nothing about the Iraqi refugee situation has been straightforward and much of the reporting has been very poor.

U.S. to admit 27,500 Iraqis over next 5 years

The Houston Chronicle reports this morning:

In each of the next 5 years, about 5,000 refugees who risked their lives by working for the government are getting special visas.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration on Wednesday symbolically opened the nation’s arms to as many as 27,500 endangered Iraqis who have rendered ”faithful and valuable service” to Uncle Sam since the invasion of Iraq.

The branch of the Department of Homeland Security that handles immigration applications unveiled guidelines for admitting up to an estimated 5,000 additional Iraqis in each of the next five years who face ”an ongoing serious threat” stemming from their ties to the United States.

The refugees worked as translators for American military units or in other high-profile jobs. They are among the estimated 4.2 million who have fled their homes to another country or to other parts of Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The coveted visas previously have been limited to 500 Iraqis in each of the past two years.

The program to provide special immigrant visas to Iraqis who have worked for the government or its contractors promises unlimited visas to spouses and children — even if the former employee dies.

The article points out the problem we have previously noted. A YMCA official in Houston who is helping with resettlement said:

Iraqis who receive special immigrant visas generally speak good English, have a good education and have previously held good jobs. We face challenges with their career placement — matching their expectations with the reality of the jobs that are available.”

Retraining and recertification in the United States for an Iraqi physician could take years.

There has been a great deal of criticism of the Administration for the delays in processing Iraqi refugees for admission to the United States.

But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has defended delays, citing concerns that terrorists might sneak into the United States as refugees, the logistics and manpower challenges of interviewing thousands of refugees in Syria and Jordan, and the hope among the administration that many of the displaced Iraqis might eventually return home.

Shouldn’t part of the screening process be an investigation into whether the refugee could safely return home? Conditions in Iraq are not the same now as when these people left. As the head of Iraq’s Red Crescent said a while back, if the refugees settle in other countries, who is going to rebuild Iraq?

U.S. Ambassador James Foley, the State Department’s coordinator for Iraqi refugees, told the Houston Chronicle last fall that the goal for admitting Iraqis in the fiscal year ending in September is 12,000.

It is not clear whether the quota or goal of admitting 5,500 Iraqis per year who helped us is in addition to or part of our overall Iraqi refugee goal.  Probably in addition.