02/08/2006

The application of laws put in place to protect the United States from terrorist activity is preventing refugees from being resettled here. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the REAL ID Act of 2005 expanded the definition of terrorist activity and the categories of terrorist organizations, with the result that staff of the Department of Homeland Security are screening out refugees who provided incidental support under extreme duress to armed groups on the grounds that they provided “material support” to terrorists. This interpretation of U.S. law is resulting in a perverse outcome: victims of terrorism are being designated terrorist supporters and blocked from receiving sanctuary and a chance to start a new life in the United States.

Refugee populations directly affected by the harsh application of the material support provision include Colombians and Burmese. In Colombia, as Refugees International has documented, irregular armed groups dominate isolated rural areas, terrorizing local communities and forcing them to donate food and other supplies under pain of torture, kidnapping, or execution. According to the Refugee Council USA, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that at least 70 percent of Colombian refugees who would otherwise be suitable for referral to the U.S. refugee resettlement program have been forced by Colombian armed groups to pay “taxes” or other forms of coerced payments.

Refugees International is following the situation for Burmese refugees in Thailand and Malaysia. These refugees have fled state-sponsored violence against their communities as part of the counter-insurgency strategy of the Burmese government, one of the most oppressive in the world. These individuals may have contributed to ethnic and religious organizations that are associated with groups taking up arms against the Burmese authorities. But the fundamental fact is that the violence they experienced, and their claim to refugee status, are the product of state-sponsored persecution by the Burmese government. Christian Chin refugees in Malaysia or refugees of Karen or Karenni ethnicity in Thailand constitute no security threat whatsoever to the United States or their current host country.

The slowdown in refugee admissions to the U.S. as the result of the material support issue has wider repercussions. Host countries consider resettlement commitments part of “burden sharing,” with their financial and material support to refugee populations on their soil balanced by the efforts of industrialized countries to resettle refugees. As the material support issue constrains U.S. resettlement efforts, host countries may respond by diminishing support for refugees.

The material support issue is hampering the ability of the Bush Administration and the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration to meet its admissions target of 70,000 refugees for fiscal year 2006, which ends on October 1. Admissions shortfalls have become chronic since September 11, 2001 due to enhanced security measures, and the resulting increases in the time and cost of processing each admitted refugee. The United States admitted 53,000 refugees in 2005 against a goal of 70,000 and has admitted 13,941 through February 8, suggesting that reaching 50,000 admissions this year will be a challenge.

In this context, ruling out entire refugee populations on the basis of material support concerns makes no sense. Congress did give the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General, the authority to determine that the material support ground of inadmissibility should not apply to particular individuals or groups. Tripartite meetings have been held, but a solution has proved so far elusive.

Refugees International endorses the position of Refugee Council USA and recommends that the Administration:

• Define material support in a way that excludes actions made under duress and ignores contributions that were one-time or irregular payments of little significance;
• Establish a process for facilitating the admission of refugees and for granting asylum where the circumstances under which the alleged support provided is involuntary, inadvertent, or otherwise excusable.