This is a story I have not paid much attention to, but probably should have (and I only looked it up when my mnother called me, hysterical that she found herself in agreement with Ted Kennedy):
Moving to address the flood of refugees fleeing war-torn Iraq, the Bush administration and the United Nations have developed a plan that would bring several thousand of them to the United States over the next 10 months, officials familiar with discussions of the plan say.
Under the plan, which is expected to be formally unveiled this week, the United Nations began its first large-scale screening this month of Iraqis who have fled to Syria and Jordan since the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It hopes to register 135,000 to 200,000 of them to determine which Iraqis have fled persecution at home and would be eligible for refugee status.
It appears we have only accepted several hundred refugeees, and that seems like an awfully miniscule number considering the sheer volume of people who have fled Iraq. Especially folks like this:
2003 was a year A.J. will never forget. He was honored to work as an interpreter for American troops.
“I was very proud to wear the uniform and to put the American flag on my shoulder,” he says.
But it all ended for him less than two years later, when he was wounded on patrol with his American buddies.
“On that day we got attacked by mortars and RPGs,” recalls A.J.
And while his wounds have healed, he’s in more danger than ever. Militant Shiites and Sunnis brand him as a collaborator.
“Now I can’t go back to my house,” he says. “I’m living in a totally different area and I’m facing a very hard time.”
A.J.’s hope? America. And while he has glowing support from American commanders, he’s been turned down twice for a visa, with no explanation.
And he’s not alone. Millions are signing up for passports to escape the chaos. More than 2 million Iraqis have fled their homes — that’s about 10 percent of the population now living outside Iraq’s border. And the U.S. has accepted only a handful of them.
Of the 50,000 refugees allowed into the U.S. last year, only 202 were Iraqis.
We should make it a priority to make sure that those Iraqis who help our troops aren’t given a death sentence, and we should be welcoming and inviting thousands more refugees every year. By any standard of decency, that is our obligation. And of those we admit, folks like AJ should be given the first plane here.
I am glad the adminstration is upping the number who will be admitted, but I would suggest that number needs to be even higher.