Iraqi Refugees - Refugee Settlement Beyond The Middle East

Refugee Settlement Beyond The Middle East

In early February 2007 the United States and the United Nations developed a plan to settle several thousand refugees in the United States. In an initial step, refugees would apply for applicant status. The UN aims to register 135,000 to 200,000 to determine which people had fled persecution and would thus qualify for refugee status.

The US aims to settle at least 5,000 of this group in the US by the end of 2007. Since the 2003 invasion, the US has settled 466 Iraqi refugees. The first group of anticipated refugees are presently in Turkey, and had fled during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Subsequently, refugees would be accepted from Syria, and then from Jordan. Kristele Younes of Refugees International supported these moves towards resettlement, but she said that "the numbers remain low compared to what the needs are.”

A July 22, 2007 article notes that in the past nine months only 133 of the planned 7000 Iraqi refugees were allowed into the United States.

Of the refugees' status, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts) said, “We can’t solve the problem alone, but we obviously bear a heavy responsibility for the crisis.”

According to Washington-based Refugees International the U.S. has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees since the invasion, Sweden had accepted 18,000 and Australia had resettled almost 6,000. More than 2 million refugees have arrived in the U.S. since 1980, including about 1 million from Vietnam, while Australia and Canada accepted more than 250,000 Vietnamese refugees. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants were granted legal residence in the United States.

Sweden, known for liberal asylum policies, has seen a surge of refugees from war-torn Iraq in the last year. Sweden currently accepts more than half of all asylum applications from Iraqis in Europe. In 2006, more than 9,000 Iraqis fled their country and came to Sweden seeking shelter, a four times increase over 2005. Sweden's immigration authority expects up to 40,000 Iraqis seeking asylum in 2007. An estimated 79,200 Iraqis call Sweden their home. Many Iraqis fled to Sweden during the 90's as well. Current refugees like Sweden because many of their relatives are there and because of the generous refugee policies.