Month: May 2009

UN revises its guidelines for Iraqi refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that Iraq is safer, so it is no longer recommending that Iraqis who leave get automatic refugee status. A press release from UNHCR says:

The improved security situation in Iraq, particularly the southern governorates and Al-Anbar governorate, has allowed UNHCR to revise its guidelines on eligibility for Iraqi asylum seekers for the first time since the end of 2007. UNHCR previously advised that all Iraqis from the central and southern governorates should be considered refugees – unless they are in categories, such as those who have committed war crimes, who are specifically excluded. Now UNHCR believes the international protection needs of those originating from Al-Anbar and the southern governorates should be individually assessed.

UNHCR will continue to recommend special consideration for certain groups, such as

members of religious and ethnic minorities; public officials; Iraqis perceived as opposing armed groups or political factions; Iraqis affiliated with the multinational forces or foreign companies; certain professionals; media workers; UN and NGO workers; human rights activists; and homosexuals.

It also names particular areas in Iraq where there are still problems, and recommends refugee status for Iraqis leaving there. And UNHCR does not recommend mass returns to Iraq at this point.

The Washington Post reports on the UNHCR’s change of policy here.  And here’s an odd little thing that goes by without explanation:

Some of the 1.5 million Iraqis living outside their country, which descended into sectarianism after U.S.-led forces invaded in 2003, should now be able to return safely, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said.

One and a half million Iraqi refugees, hmm? Since I began reading about Iraqi refugees, the number has always been stated as two million. Just a couple of weeks ago I reported that the Iraqi government is compiling statistics on how many displaced Iraqis there actually are. And I wrote:

The longstanding estimate is that 2 million Iraqis have left the country. They are not counting internally displaced people, but that number has been estimated at 2.5 million. I generally hold to the rule that reality is never as bad as estimates and media reports in any area (such as environmental problems), but occasionally wartime figures turn out worse than estimated. If I had to bet, I’d place my money on the not-as-bad scenario. There are always reasons to inflate numbers and few incentives to deflate them.

And now, mysteriously, the two million number has been reduced by 25 percent. I hope somebody explains what happened. Perhaps 500,000 refugees have returned, but I don’t think so.

Reform suggestion #2: Strict guidelines for assimilation

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Rtheyserious posted this as a comment to my post of this morning  in which I said that we are seeking suggestions for reforming the Refugee Resettlement program, but I am posting it separately here as well so as to keep a consistent format.  By the way, feel free to send additional suggestions, just keep each one brief.

Strict guidelines for assimilation must be introduced.

Each refugee must be sponsored by a non-immigrant (natural citizen) family. Non-immigrant meaning the head of household and spouse are natural born citizens – at minimum, second generation.

The non-immigrant sponsor family must be tested just as any naturalized citizen testing for citizenship. If the sponsor family cannot pass the US citizenship test, then they are not suitable for guidance on assimilation to American societal expectations.

Only accept as many refugees as there are responsible vetted sponsor families available.

The sponsor family is to be responsible for meeting the needs of the refugee for no more than two years. If the refugee is not gainfully employed and communicating in English sufficiently after this period, then the refugee must be fast tracked to meet the minimum independence – speaking/reading basic english – capable of banking, driving. If after six additional months of intense training the refugee remains un-employed &/or incapable of communicating sufficiently in english – he must seek and secure another American sponsor family or repatriate to country of origin. The original family that sponsored this refugee will no longer qualify for additional sponsorship.

Greece “can’t cope” with illegal aliens seeking asylum

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

From the Washington Times, my favorite paper, yesterday:

PATRAS, Greece — Every day since he arrived in Greece two years ago, Mohamadi al-Raza has woken up in this port city wishing he could make it across the Mediterranean to Italy.

The 24-year-old Afghan refugee, who said he fled his country “because of the wars, the mafias and the Taliban,” has lived for months inside a makeshift refugee encampment – a five-minute walk from the barbed-wire gates of the port.

Like thousands of other Afghan refugees, Mr. al-Raza is stuck on the threshold of Western Europe, because he landed first in Greece. Rules in the European Union won’t let him go any farther.

As part of his daily routine, Mr. al-Raza tries to creep into one of the trucks that leave the port on ferriesfive times a day for the Italian coast and comes back at night after another failed attempt. “It’s like a regular job,” he said.

Smugglers bring them to Greece on the frontier of Europe from all over Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

Mr. al-Raza is one of about 1,300 Afghans in the encampment. Local nongovernmental organizations say most paid about $13,300 to smugglers to reach Patras, passing through Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea.

According to the Patras coast guard, the Afghans are among 4,000 illegal immigrants waiting for a chance to sneak out of Greece. The others come from elsewhere in South Asia, Iraq and Somalia.

One of many pitfalls of being in the European Union is that illegal aliens must be processed in the first European country in which they land.    That is why besides Greece, the island of Malta which we have reported on extensively has had such a difficult time with thousands arriving illegally on its shores.  (Use our search function to learn more about Malta.)

Under EU rules, the first country an immigrant reaches is supposed to deal with asylum requests. However, Greece, which claims it has become the most targeted entry point into the European Union, is hardly ever the refugees’ preferred destination. Most would rather live in Germany, France, Britain or Sweden.

The local people have had enough.

At first, people were helpful with the migrants,” said Kristos Karapiperis, an official with the Greek Red Cross. But in 2006, the settlement reached an unprecedented size and people started to get afraid, he said.

“People actually began to see the camp,” which prompted protests amid the local population, he said, especially among truck drivers and employees of the ferry companies who resent the delays and the financial losses from illegal immigration.

“It’s creating a huge societal and economic problem,” said Konstantinos Bitsios, the general secretary of the Greek Interior Ministry. “I’m not ashamed to say we cannot cope with it,” he said, referring to the rise in asylum seekers and other illegal immigrants.

One thing Greece could do is get out of the European Union and set its OWN laws to protect its OWN country, but it won’t.

Previously we told you about immigrant violence in Greece here and here.

More of the Climate Change Refugee mumbo-jumbo

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’ll have to just direct you to this publication to read the article, “The Climate Refugee Challenge,” yourself because, although in English, somehow this French publication won’t let me copy sections of  the post.    Suffice it to say, the crisis dujour of Climate Change Refugees roaming the world and looking for a home in your town is moving on up on Leftists’ to-do list around the world.  Read about it here.  Pay attention because they are working on securing funding and developing a legal structure.

And, then as I pointed out before and now we have proof, the Enviro-socialists have been advised to drop the phrase ‘global warming’ which confuses too many people who have been freezing their tushies off over the last few winters.

Reform suggestion #1

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

In my post earlier today about the need to reform Refugee Resettlement I said I would post reform suggestions from readers.  This is the first of those, with hopefully more to come.     Note:  I’ll post these just as they come in.

From an anonymous reader:

I saw your comments on the internet you needed ideas

The families with childrens should not be resettled until their childrens finish school as the resettlment is disturbing their education

you should consider small families first

father and son

or mother and son only

father and daughter

or mother and daughter

or father mother and son

and similar

every small family should be put with another family in the same flat or house

one disabled asylum should be put with one or two able asylum in the same house or flat

asylum should be given a voucher instead of money with their names on it

that no one from the ones who running the programs will cheat with stamp for food

make appeal on the intenet for donation specially for the sick and the disabled

encourage people to take their belonging with them such as pillows, blankets, other necessary things that you do not have to provide them

allow people to take money with them when they are travelling to America to help them with their own expenses or buying a ticket

people can buy a health insurance for a year if they can afford

appeal to any country who have plenty of accommodations to take asylum seekers at least temporarily until you find them the accommodations needed instead of waiting in the Middle East

a single asylum seekers should be put in one room with a family or with another asylum seeker until finding them a suitable accommodation

voting about asylum is a bad idea it would not be fair

there are plenty of people who wil be happy to give accommodations to asylum seeker if they were desperate

all countries should share to give all asylum seekers home no one should be discriminated against