A press release from Human Rights First states:
Only 4,200 Iraqis with U.S. ties have made it to the United States since 2003, though at least 20,000 have applied, and the number of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis may be as high as 146,000, according to a new report issued today by a leading human rights group.
The report, Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2008, issued by Human Rights First, examines implementation of this critical legislation.
The point of the legislation was to shorten the processing time for Iraqis who had helped the U.S. But times remain long.
“Iraqis seeking safety in the United States can wait a year or more for their applications to move through the system,” says Human Rights First’s Ruthie Epstein, who authored the report. “We pin the delays on two problems – inadequate staffing and inefficient security clearance procedures. The result is that thousands of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis are stuck in Iraq and other countries in the region, facing danger and destitution. The absene of direct access to the U.S. refugee program in Syria and Turkey, where the need is significant, exacerbates the problem.”
I posted on Human Rights First in December. At that time a spokesman was criticizing the Iraqi government’s campaign to get refugees to return home, saying the refugees saw it as propaganda.
I’ve long been puzzled by the lack of emphasis until very recently on helping the Iraqi refugees to return. And I’ve wondered at statements from refugees that they would be killed if they returned, even after sectarian violence in Iraq was greatly reduced. Now I wonder if our correspondent Vav could help me out. Are Iraqis who helped the United States still in special danger? Could they safely return? Seeing how badly off so many Iraqi refugees are in this country, would it make sense to put more emphasis on repatriating even those Iraqis with ties to Americans?