…. instead of seeking shelter in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan or Egypt, which together have taken in 1.89 million Syrians, Nidal [featured refugee in this article—ed] decided to head across the Atlantic to Brazil, which has a big Syrian community. He was not the only one;Brazil has granted asylum to just over 200 Syrian refugees in the past two-and-a-half years and a further 50 claims are waiting to be processed. In April, the number of asylum-seekers recognized was up 50 per cent on the month before.
The Brazilian government has approved 100 per cent of the asylum claims presented so far by Syrian nationals, but many more people may have flown to the country and not bothered to seek asylum.
“We assume that the number of Syrians living in Brazil because of the conflict is much bigger than the figure revealed by the official statistics,” said Andrés Ramirez, UNHCR’s representative in Brazil. He said that this was because many of the new arrivals were staying with family or friends among the estimated 3 million-strong Syrian community, which is playing a key support role.
Syrian asylum-seekers had started arriving in Brazil from the very beginning of the conflict and officials said this was this was due to the strong historical links between the two countries and the big Syrian community.
No overt mention of what the predominant religion of the Syrian “community” is (after all this is a UN press release). Maybe this is where the Christians are going, but I really don’t know. Do you?
Here they come—the first 2,000 Syrian refugees (some of the most difficult refugees in the world!) will be processed into the US in the coming months.
Yippee! We are coming to America! Thank you President Obama!
We will be waiting to see if the US Catholic Bishops, Church World Service and the Lutherans demand that only the beleaguered Christians be allowed to enter. (But, we won’t be holding our breath!)
With conditions continuing to deteriorate in Syria, the Obama administration is making a major policy shift by agreeing for the first time to allow thousands of new Syrian refugees into the United States,The Cable has learned.
The numbers are relatively small: just 2,000 refugees, compared to an estimated two million peoplewho have fled Syria during the civil war. But it’s a significant increase from the 90 or so Syrian refugees who have been permanently admitted to the U.S. in the last two years. And it’s not entirely uncontroversial. The refugees, mostly women and children, will be screened for terrorist ties — a process that could take a year or more to complete.
Unlike previous efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to give temporary protected status to Syrians already in the United States, the State Department effort will bring in Syrians from overseas for permanent resettlement in America.
“Referrals will come within the next four months. We will need to interview people and perform security and medical checks,” Kelly Clements, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration, tells The Cable.
[…..]
By Clements’ own admission, given application processing times, “We’re not likely to see Syrian refugees into those numbers before well into 2014.”
Ah, the truth!
Despite their vulnerable condition, even the youngest of children will be thoroughly vetted to ensure they do not pose a national security threat. It’s not that they’re worried about infants enlisting in al Qaeda. The worry is that terrorist relatives can more easily enter the United States, once they have relatives in America. “Refugees are subject to an intensive security screening process involving federal intelligence, law enforcement, defense, and homeland security agencies,” a State Department official said. “The U.S. government makes every possible effort to uphold and enhance the security screening aspects of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Refugees are among the most carefully screened of individuals traveling to the United States.” [One day I’ll make a list of all the refugee terrorists and criminals that got through the screening!—ed]
Wow! I didn’t know that Germany sends them back!
Other major resettlement countries, such as Germany, have pledged to bring in up to 13,000 refugees since the fighting began. However, unlike in the U.S., refugees to Germany are required to return after the fighting subsides.“We’re very proud of the fact that the U.S. judges applicants on need and seek out the most needy cases,” Erol Kekic, director of immigration at the Church World Service, tells The Cable.
If you are concerned about the Obama Syrian resettlement plan be sure to let your Senators and Member of Congress know of your concerns!
It’s yet to be seen if Congress will push back against the Obama administration’s acceptance of the Syrian refugees. (Ordinarily, the U.S. only admits refugees after a conflict has gone on for five years or longer.) Though the State Department’s refugee admission program is authorized by a presidential determination, it does involve consultation with Congress. [Consultation is a joke! Congress let’s them do whatever they want!—-ed]
(Reuters) – Many Syrians who have escaped their country are now desperate to escape from U.N.-run refugee camps, where women are not safe and teenage boys are recruited as soldiers to fight in the conflict, according to an internal U.N. report.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR is trying to cope with a massive humanitarian crisis, as 1.9 million Syrians have sought refuge abroad, mainly in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
The report, an self-evaluation of UNHCR’s work in Syria entitled “From slow boil to breaking point”, admits the United Nations could have done much better and “a far more substantial and coherent strategy is needed”.
When you send money for Zaatari, it may well end up in the hands of the corrupt:
Organized crime networks are operating in the biggest refugee camp, Za’atari in Jordan, which is home to 130,000, it said. The camp is “lawless is many ways”, with resources that are “constantly stolen or vandalized”.
Preparations for a new camp needed to learn the lessons from Za’atari, including to “ensure the safety of women and girls”.
Keep saying NO! to Congress, the US State Department and your local refugee contractor when they start talking about resettling Syrians to your town or city! Remember the Palin Doctrine—let Allah sort out the Muslim v. Muslim civil war.
Meanwhile, a weapons cache was seized a few days ago when Syrians attempted to smuggle weapons and ammo into Jordan, here.
It is just a short piece demonstrating that the drumbeat has begun to pressure western governments to resettle Syrian refugees in order to supposedly take the pressure off of Turkey and other Muslim countries. This is Syria’s civil war, right?
Leading UK refugee charities have called on the Government to work with European Union member states to establish a resettlement programme in the UK and Europe for Syrian refugees.
The Refugee Council, Refugee Action, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Welsh Refugee Councilare calling for a co-ordinated effort across Europe to relieve some of the pressure on the burgeoning refugee camps on the Syrian border.
Readers in the UK should be closely following the ‘work’ of the groups making up the refugee industry in the UK.
The photo is from this storyin The Guardian—Tough time for Turks.
UNHCR Socialist Antonio Guterres just licking his chops to pressure US into starting the Syrian migration to America.
Antonio Guterres also told The Guardianthat he expected the resettlement to be as large as the one they undertook with Iraqis. (hat tip: Mike)
Guterres compared the Syrian refugee issue to that of Iraqis during the last decade, when more than 100,000 were resettled away from the region. “If things go on for a prolonged period of time then resettlement will become a central part of our strategy,” he said. “We would like when the time comes … to be able to launch a resettlement programme as massive as the one for Iraqis.”
From 2007 to this spring, the US resettled 84,902 of the Iraqis resettled anywhere in the world, so expect the UN to put the screws to the US State Department to lead the way again. Surely that is on-going at this very moment with the resettlement contractors busy lobbying behind-the-scenes for the State Department to bring them some Syrians to add to their diversity stew. Incidentally, that 84,000 figure doesn’t include the earlier waves of Iraqis who came to the US as refugees, like the guy who bombed a federal building in Arizona, here.
Western countries including the US and Britain may be asked to accept tens of thousands of Syrian refugees because the exodus from the civil war is overwhelming countries in the region, the UN’s refugee chief has warned.
With no end to the war in sight, the flight of nearly 2 million people from Syria over the past two years is showing every sign of becoming a permanent population shift, like the Palestinian crises of 1948 and 1967, with grave implications for countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, UN and other humanitarian aid officials say.
[….]
In an interview with the Guardian, António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said the situation was already far more than just a humanitarian crisis. If a resolution to the conflict was not found within months, the UN will look to resettle tens of thousands of Syrian refugees in countries better able to afford to host them,including Britain. Germany has already offered to take 5,000, but other offers have been limited, Guterres said.
I’m beginning to think these Muslim conflicts in the Middle East are about getting Muslim migrants spread around the Western world, or at least that is the side-benefit for Socialists like Antonio Guterres.
Reminds me to mention the Palin Doctrine—-when both sides in a conflict are shouting ‘Allahu akbar‘ and killing each other, let Allah sort it out!
Let your Senators and Members of Congress know how you feel about Syrian immigration to America during their August recess. They will be amazed that you are on top of the news (because they likely are not!). And, tell them that the Iraqis that came before them are heavily dependent on welfare and are suffering from high unemployment rates.
