Just two hours ago the UN Observer reported that the ‘Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act’ which was attached to the Defense Authorization bill at the end of September is now in conference committee. You can read about it in this news report from EPIC (Education for Peace in Iraq Center). EPIC joined some of the volags, who coincidentally will receive federal funding to resettle the refugees, in lobbying for this measure.
All last week, EPIC and our colleagues from Amnesty International, Human Rights First, Church World Service, and International Rescue Committee (IRC) met with House lawmakers to urge them to support these important Senate provisions on protecting Iraqi refugees, and suggested ways to strengthen the language to go even further.
We have covered Iraqi refugees extensively and we encourage readers to review our coverage here. As we have mentioned previously, the US State Department already has the authority to admit Iraqi refugees. If you notice the groups involved in the drumbeating have opposed the war and by making a big issue of the refugee situation, they get in their licks against the Bush Administration.