We have told you in many previous posts (here is the most recent) that there are Iraqi Palestinians living in camps along the Iraq/Syria border. They have been displaced from homes in Iraq because they were favorites of Saddam Hussein, so they became unfavorites for all those he had persecuted during his dictatorship.
No one wants the Palestinians. No neighboring Muslim country wants them, not even rich Saudi Arabia. A few have been resettled in Chile, Sweden and Iceland. Gee I wonder how that last is going over since Iceland is the first government to go under in the worldwide economic panic.
Now here comes Refugees International telling Obama we should take them!
“The Obama administration must step in and send a clear message to the world that we are interested in helping displaced people find stable homes,” said Kristele Younes, Senior Advocate with Refugees International. “The plan to send Palestinians trapped at the Iraqi-Syrian border to Sudan is outrageous. The U.S. has finally started resettlement processing for vulnerable, displaced people inside Iraq who have not had the resources to flee their country. These Palestinians are among the most vulnerable, and the U.S. should prioritize their resettlement.”
By the way, I never see Refugees International pushing for the truly persecuted Iraqi Christians. It is always about bringing more Muslims. You watch next week they will be hollering for Rohingyas, but I digress.
I have to admit I don’t know why on earth Sudan (itself a producer of refugees) would want to take them and why the UN has joined with the PLO to make the arrangements. But, you can be sure that Refugees International wants you to know it’s all our fault—the US’s fault. It’s always our fault. Always!
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.
Apparently Homeland Security has a problem with the Palestinians. Boy I would love to know what this is all about.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established unique, discriminatory criteria to assess the vulnerability of Palestinians from Iraq for the purpose of resettlement to the U.S. Refugees International urges President Obama to insist that the criteria be the same for Iraqis and Palestinians in Iraq, and to request that the U.S. State Department’s Refugee Bureau create a special category to process the applications. Any process should be conducted without prejudice to the Palestinians’ right to return to their homeland.
To summarize RI’s demands: Obama needs to tell Homeland Security to lay off the restrictions, we then treat them specially in the application process, we bring thousands here, pay for their care, get them resettled, and then they can still demand to be returned to their homeland by joining the angry anti-Israel demonstrators in the streets of American cities. Did you get that!
I repeat, as in previous posts, the pressure should be on MUSLIM countries to take in the Palestinian Arabs.
For more on Iraqi refugees see our special category here.