President's Corner: The U.S. Needs To Do More to Help Iraqi Refugees

For the last six months, my colleagues and I at Refugees International have been working to generate more resources and protection for displaced Iraqis. There are hopeful signs of progress, although much needs to be done.

The 2.2 million Iraqi refugees, most of whom are living in Syria and Jordan, are placing heavy demands on their host countries. The State Department has started a program to improve educational capacity in the region, so that refugee children will have a better chance of going to school. Part of the program will involve hiring Iraqi teachers, which will provide needed income for some refugee families.

After months of bureaucratic delay, the Bush administration is poised to start resettling thousands of Iraqis in the U.S. In February, the State Department announced plans to resettle as many as 7,000 Iraqis by Sept. 30, but the program hasn’t really started. First, the Department of Homeland Security took four months to draft new security procedures to process Iraqis. Now, DHS is working to assemble teams to interview the thousands of Iraqis referred to the U.S. by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for possible resettlement. The resettlement flow will increase from a drip (only two Iraqis were admitted to the U.S. for resettlement in the last two months) to a trickle.

However, President Bush has not publicly expressed any interest in the plight of Iraqi refugees.

Refugees International has been urging President Bush to speak in support of Iraqi refugees.

Learn how you can help us in our efforts by joining our National Call-In Day for Iraqi Refugees. World Refugee Day is June 20, and it would be a great time for him to reaffirm America’s commitment to help Iraqi refugees.