US Responsibility to Iraqi Refugees a Question Mark

Back in February, US State Department officials appeared at a special briefing with the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres and made the noble assertion, "We have a responsibility to respond to the immediate needs of Iraqis who have fled violence and persecution, and the United States will provide leadership in meeting those needs."

Only, seven months later, leadership is lacking. Actually, it's near-nonexistent. The Iraqi refugee crisis has become one of the world's most severe humanitarian situations with 1.2 million Iraqis now living in neighboring Syria, and another 700,000 in Lebanon. 60,000 are now leaving their Iraqi homes every month, and the US has admitted barely any.

There are few excuses, considering that in the months after the fall of Saigon, the US airlifted 125,000 Vietnamese into air bases in the Philippines and Guam before they were brought to the US. It's not a matter of logistics.

News coverage of US delinquency has been increasing. What follows is a roundup of recent reports. And an update: the State Department has leaked news of a "tenfold increase" in the number of Iraqis hitting American shores in the last month. Too bad that still means a meager 500, but at the same time it's clear that the pressure is on.

"Tens of thousands" of Iraqi refugee schoolchildren attended their first day of school in Jordan late last month. Schools in Jordan and Syria are only one of the many parts of state infrastructures that are feeling strained because of the heavy influx of an entirely new population. In response, the US has pledged $30 million in response to a request from UNHCR and UNICEF to send 155,000 children to school in Jordan, Syrian, Egypt and Lebanon.

60 Minutes focuses on Iraqis who worked as translators for the US for in Iraq who are now stuck in limbo, away from their homes, nowhere to go, with a target on their backs. Despite the fact that these people were good enough to work for coalition forces in Iraq, a State Department official points to 9/11 as a cause for heightened security in admitting refugees into the country.

Efforts have been made by the American government, apparently, but the Times reports that Iraqis in danger are not allowed to apply for resettlement because, simply, the facilities aren't accessible in Iraq. They actually have to head to Syria or Jordan, despite the fact they face the very real chance of being turned away at the border.

And the UN has been negotiating a tenuous visa situation for refugees in Syria, though the latest word is that Iraqis will not be forcibly deported.

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