Category: Iraqi refugees

Angelina Jolie visits refugee camp in Thailand, gets it wrong on Rohingya

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The last time we wrote about Angelina Jolie it was to praise her good sense. She had visited Iraq and Iraqi refugees, and she spoke to the Council of Foreign Relations. (See our several posts on Jolie here.)  Way back in April, when almost everybody was convinced that all the Iraqi refugees had to be resettled in third countries, she said this:

“This population we’re talking about is the future of Iraq,” said Jolie, who has traveled twice to Iraq over the past year, as well as to Syria to visit Iraqi refugees. “So to reach them now, to help deal with their trauma and refocus their minds on a possible future should absolutely be one of our top priorities. We need these kids. . . . We need them to rebuild their country, to stabilize their country and eventually lead their country.”

Now the conventional wisdom has caught up to her. But Jolie is not as wise in her current refugee venture. The Associated Press reports:

BANGKOK (AP) — Angelina Jolie, a Hollywood star deeply involved in the plight of refugees, has called on the Thai government to respect the human rights of Myanmar’s Rohinyga boat people whom Thai authorities have pushed out to sea in recent weeks, a U.N. spokeswoman said Friday.

Jolie and her partner, Brad Pitt, are on a visit to Thailand, where on Wednesday they toured one of several camps along the Thai-Myanmar border sheltering refugees from Myanmar’s military regime.

We’re not against respecting human rights, but Jolie needs to get some perspective on the Rohingya. Ann has written 62 posts on this group. Jolie needs to know that they are Muslim, some of them are trained as jihadists, they do not get along with other groups, they are highly aggressive and intimidate other people, and many other facts before she passes judgment. The article notes:

Thailand recognizes most at the border camps as refugees with legitimate fear of returning to their homeland, but does not accord the Muslim Rohingyas the same status, and seeks to send them away.

“Visiting Ban Mai Nai Soi and seeing how hospitable Thailand has been to 111,000 mostly Karen and Karenni refugees over the years makes me hope that Thailand will be just as generous to the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on their shores,” Jolie said.

Angelina Jolie is a bright woman. She should think over what she has learned and ask some Thais why it is that their country has been hospitable to these other refugees (many of whom are Christian) while turning away the Rohingya.

Update February 12, 2009: It looks like the Thai government didn’t like Jolie’s comments either. Thailand’s national news source, The Nation (no connection to the radical U.S. magazine of that name), headlines an article: Thai govt warns Jolie and UNHCR over comments on Rohingyas. The Foreign Ministry’s permanent secretary said:

“The UNHCR should not have brought Jolie, its goodwill ambassador, to one of the nine refugee camps stringing the border which are run by Thailand’s interior ministry.”

 “The Thai government will issue a reprimand letter to UNHCR, asking why it allowed Angelina Jolie to visit the refugee camps,” Virasakdi told reporters.

Good for the Thai government, which recognizes that it, not the UN, is in charge of its own sovereignty and its own policies.

Refugee chic: gay guys and heavy metal rockers

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Awhile back we told you about the gay Iraqi refugees who used their cache as refugees to pick up dates.   Well now we have a heavy metal band, refugees from Iraq, getting VIP treatment and being featured in the New York Times (be sure to check out the photo!).

Acrassicauda had been through hell as a rock band in wartime Baghdad. Its practice space was bombed. Its members were branded Satan worshipers and received death threats for making Western-style music. Then they suffered through two purgatorial years as refugees in Syria and Turkey, killing time and dreaming of rocking out in the land of the free.

And on Sunday night, two days after the last of the band’s four members was resettled in the United States, they enjoyed what any metal fan would have to call heaven: bearhugs and “Wow, dude” heart-to-hearts backstage with Metallica at the Prudential Center in Newark. It probably wasn’t necessary for James Hetfield, Metallica’s lead singer, to surprise them after the show by handing over one of his guitars, a black ESP, and signing it “Welcome to America”; their minds were already blown.

I’m too weary with this story to write more, just go read it.    They say they received no special treatment in the resettlement process, yeh right!   What about the women and kids they displaced, or the desperate interpreters we have been hearing so much about?

You know, I wouldn’t be so annoyed by stories like this if the mainstream media would say why they were being  persecuted, or why the gay guys are persecuted.   Islamic fundamentalists persecute them!  Why is that so darn hard to say?

Christian Iraqi refugees in U.S. probably will not return

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Two Chaldean bishops told Catholic News Service (CNS) that Iraqi Christians will not return, although conditions in Iraq have improved.

“No one in the United States will go back to Iraq or the Middle East because the future for children, (opportunities for) education and life are better here,” said Chaldean Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim [of Detroit].

Also, experience has shown that once people have overcome the initial difficulties of adapting to a new culture, “no one will convince them to change it again” and rip up those freshly laid roots, said Chaldean Bishop Sarhad Y. Jammo [of San Diego].

The bishops were in Rome to report to the Vatican on their dioceses. 

Bishop Ibrahim said 5,000 Iraqi Christians came to Detroit in 2008; it is the highest number of newcomers he has seen.

The economic situation in Michigan is not good and businesses are struggling, he said, so he offers the new arrivals encouragement to help them through the rough patches.

During a Christmas dinner he hosted last year, he said he told some 1,500 recent Iraqi refugees, “Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, because this country is blessed by God. You will sleep without fear at night. Be patient and things will improve.”

It would seem as if Michigan would be the worst place in the country for refugees to go to, with its economy in the pits. But there is a very large Chaldean community around Detroit, and the support that provides might outweigh the problems. There is another reason the Chaldeans will not go back:

“Constitutional rights and equality have not been provided for Christians and that is a major reason why Christians will not go back and why people continue to leave and go to the West and the United States,” he said.

The constitution establishes Islam as a main source of legislation and declares that no law may contradict Islamic and democratic standards. [Aren’t these standards contradictory?]

However, while there is freedom to worship, there is no full freedom of religion such as the freedom to change one’s religion, Bishop Jammo said.

Nonetheless, there is “a new season of hope” for Iraq, said Bishop Jammo.  He blames the United States for the Christians’ situation.

 He said, “it was a big mistake” on the part of the United States and the interim Iraqi government not to have protected the country’s Christians and promoted their “political and cultural leverage.”

Even though Christians in Iraq have always been a small minority, they were part of “the top elite of society” and made up 25 percent of the country’s professional class, he said.

Christians are also “a factor for peace and for national reconciliation because they don’t have militias, they don’t fight, and they don’t claim more rights” than they are due, he said.

He said Christians act as “a soft joint between tensions” within a multiethnic, religiously diverse community — sort of like cartilage that cushions hard bones.

“The United States should have paid attention to this asset” of the Christians serving as buffers in conflict, he said.

Instead, U.S. policymakers overlooked the role Christians could have played in favor of focusing only on the fate of the country’s Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions, he said.

He is right. We heard nothing about the Christians during the war. Everything was about the needs of the three Muslims groups. When the Christians fled we read some stories about their ancient communities being destroyed. But I don’t think our government did anything to help them. It’s as if we had to bend over so far backward to be “understanding” of the Muslims that we didn’t dare bring up the needs of the Christians. This is to our great shame. 

Bishop Jammo said he thinks it is still possible for the Iraqi Constitution to provide full equality for Christians.

Otherwise, “what was the purpose of the U.S. going there (and overseeing the drafting of the constitution), if it did not emphasize the equality of all” ethnic and religious communities? he asked.

Unless full equality is provided, “peace, justice, progress and balance will not be realized” in Iraq, he said.

It’s not going to happen. If George W. Bush didn’t pay attention to the Christians, Barack Obama surely isn’t going to be any better. Islam doesn’t provide for equal rights for non-Muslims, and Iraq’s constitution is Islamic. Only our insistence could have made it happen (and possibly even that wouldn’t have), and now it’s too late.

The article doesn’t say anything about Iraqi Christians in other countries. I wonder if any are returning. From what I’ve read, life is difficult for them in most places. The ones who made it here are fortunate indeed.

UN says Iraqi refugees will be returning home in droves

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Associated Press reports:

BRUSSELS, Belgium — If the security situation in Iraq continues to improve, the number of refugees and displaced people returning to their homes could more than double this year to 500,000, the U.N. refugee agency said Thursday.

After years of extreme violence Iraq is now experiencing markedly improved security, said Daniel Endres, Baghdad representative of the Geneva-based agency.

“Although this security remains fragile, last year we saw a significant return as a result,” he told journalists in Brussels.

More than 220,000 Iraqis who fled abroad or were displaced within the country after the U.S.-led invasion returned home in 2008, according to U.N. statistics.

There are still nearly two million external refugees and 1.6 million internally displaced persons.  Two things should speed up their return.

One, the Iraqi government is taking stronger steps to solve the problems that discourage their return. The first, of course, was the violence, and that is down to a point where it is not a barrier to return. Another big problem is housing.

[The government’s recent action] includes setting up a special army unit charged with evicting militia members and others who moved illegally into homes owned by people forced to flee the violence.

The article doesn’t say if they’re doing this, but the Iraqi government or our government also needs to provide new housing because so much was destroyed during the fighting.

Another problem is jobs, but I believe from little hints I’ve read that the Iraqi economy is recovering nicely. Iraqis have a tradition of entrepreneurship, and that will serve them very well. (Maybe we in America could recover that tradition and get the government to encourage it here instead of taxing and regulating it to death!)  And this will be an important spur to return:

[I]nternational refugee organizations have been encouraged by the government’s recent moves to normalize the situation and encourage returns.

We noted a few weeks ago that one of the big organizations had changed its policy to encourage returns rather than resettlement. And now the UN appears to agree. This is wonderful news. Of course, this being the AP, we have to get the downer at the end:

Many refugees are also reluctant to return because standards of living in places such as Syria and Jordan are much better than in Iraq. Issues such as the lack of basic utilities and services, including perennial electricity shortages and problems with sewage, sanitation and other services, also hinder returns, Endres said.

Are these the same refugees who are in such dire straits in Syria and Jordan that they are selling their women on the streets, as we’ve read so many times?

In my Google alert, where I found this item, only Fox News had picked it up. I’ll look today for coverage in the mainstream media of how this huge problem (which was all America’s fault, of course) is on its way to being solved. But I suspect I won’t find much. Likewise, the Iraqi elections, which are mentioned in the AP article but very little in the rest of the media.

The elections are relevant to the refugee issue in that the Sunnis, who boycotted previous elections, are taking part. It is another sign of normalcy, and also a message to Sunni refugees who fled fearing the Shia majority that they are part of Iraq and will be represented in the government.

One question I have that I think will never be answered: We know that a considerable number of the refugee count consists of supporters of Saddam Hussein who fled when he was overthrown because they feared retribution. I have not read anything about them for a long time, but I would like to know what Iraq is doing about them, if anything. If they become the majority of refugees who do not return, are we going to get them resettled here? Just what we need!

Update January 31: I news-googled “Iraqi refugees” to see what kind of play this story got in the media. Only Fox News and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty came up, though there may be others that picked up the AP story and don’t show up in the search. Most of the stories are about the terrible plight of the Iraqi refugees. I guess that will remain the dominant narrative until the media can give the Obama administration credit for the improvement.

Plea from Refugees International to bring Iraqi Palestinians to US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

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.