Update: Be sure to read the comments to this post because readers apparently ‘in the know’ have reported what the number is expected to be.
Over the last few days there have been a flurry of stories, apparently generated by the UN, saying that there have been 80,000 plus referrals of Iraqi refugees by UNHCR for resettlement to the West. These reports indicate we (the US) have taken roughly 30,000 of those. From AP:
GENEVA — More than 30,000 Iraqis have moved to the United States under a resettlement program that began in 2007 while much smaller numbers have gone to other countries, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.
The big United States intake, which began with the program in 2007, came after Washington had been heavily criticized for taking in too few Iraqi refugees.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has recommended to the participating countries the names of 82,500 Iraqis who should be moved, but so far only 33,117 have been able go to their new homelands, said spokesman Andrej Mahecic.
Rounding off the numbers, that leaves about 50,000 in the pipeline and if it’s true that the US is taking 75% of the Iraqis who have applied, that means we would take 37,500 of those in the pipeline. Right?
However, in the Obama Administrations Report to Congress the ceiling for the whole region which includes Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Nepal (Bhutanese) is 35,000 (p. 49). In order for us to meet our 5-year obligation to take 60,000 Bhutanese at least 12,000 of the 35,000 would be from Nepal.
So, how many Iraqis is Obama promising to bring this year? The UN seems to be suggesting they expect us to take around 37,500 (2500 more than our whole regional ceiling). Does anyone know?
No jobs for refugees!
Meanwhile, Iraqis already resettled in the US are not finding work. According to the study from Georgetown University Law School (p. 20) as few as 20% of Iraqi refugees are finding employment and are getting increasingly frustrated and angry.
Just adds more evidence to my contention that creating chaos in a recession with angry immigrants is intentional and is driving this completely illogical policy. See ‘Bring us your poor and angry’ here.