World Refugee Day 2009 : Assessing the Obama Administration’s Response to the Iraqi Refugee Situation

Not counting an estimated 2.8 million IDPs in Iraq, more than 1.5 million additional Iraqis are refugees, living primarily in neighboring countries.(2) Regardless of the motives for going to war and the consequences of the decision to do so, it is now clearly in American – and the international community’s – interests to promote a secure and stable Iraq that provides the conditions both for Iraqis to remain in their homes as well as for Iraqi refugees and IDPs to return home. Moreover, as a member of the international community and a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, in addition to its role as the instigator of the Iraq War, the United States has an obligation to provide aid and support to the refugees of the war. This takes place primarily in three ways :

  By directly assisting the refugees (e.g. resettlement to the U.S.) ;
  By providing financial and logistical support to the host countries most affected by massive influxes of refugees (e.g. Jordan and Syria) ; or
  By working to make Iraq stable and safe enough for the refugees to return home (voluntary return).

Achieving stability in Iraq is of paramount concern to the United States. From a political and security standpoint, this is critical in order that the U.S. can claim any measure of success in Iraq as well as facilitating the withdrawal of American troops – either to return to the United States or to be deployed to confront other security threats. How successful the U.S. and Iraqi governments will be at stabilizing Iraq over the long-term, therefore enabling the voluntary return of a majority of Iraqi refugees, still remains to be seen. When it comes to providing support to host countries, the U.S. has, to a large extent, been making significant contributions to support their efforts to cope with the massive influx of refugees through financial and technological assistance.(3) Yet it is the first point – more precisely, enabling resettlement to the United States – where the U.S. has been falling short of its responsibilities.

Resettlement under the Bush administration

As it stands, the U.S. has not lived up to its claim of being a country that welcomes refugees with open arms, declaring in grand words “send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me”.(4) In fact, while the U.S. has significantly increased the number of refugees accepted for resettlement in the United States over the past couple of years, the first few years of the Iraq War could be regarded as a complete and utter failure. Although more than two million Iraqis had flooded over the borders seeking safety by May of 2007, the United States had taken in less than 800 refugees.(5) Even those Iraqis who had supported the U.S. and worked alongside American troops as interpreters were being turned away – although many others had been murdered in Iraq and still more had received threats. In contrast to the U.S. (with a population of more than 300 million), Sweden, a country of slightly more than nine million, had accepted around 20,000 by 2007. Over the past two years, the U.S. has begun resettling more refugees to within its borders (12,118 between October 1, 2007 and September 12, 2008), but this remains negligible when compared to the number of refugees seeking resettlement,(6) thus suggesting a long ways to go before fulfilling its responsibilities.

Assessing the Obama administration

Although Bush’s approach to the Iraqi humanitarian situation has been highly criticized, the ball is now in Obama’s court. Regarding Iraqis displaced by the war (both IDPs and refugees), the Obama administration has affirmed that “[t]hese men, women and children are a living consequence of this war and a challenge to stability in the region, and they must become a part of Iraq’s reconciliation and recovery. America has a strategic interest – and a moral responsibility – to act.”(7) He also made several promises on the topic during his campaign – for instance, to set up an international working group to handle the crisis and to “provide at least $2 billion to expand services to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries.”(8) Following his inauguration, he elaborated on his promises to also include offering diplomacy and assistance to aide the millions of displaced Iraqis as well as cooperating with other countries “to resettle Iraqis facing great personal risk.”(9)

Five months after assuming the presidency of the United States, Obama’s record on this front still has considerable room for improvement. When considering the budget proposal for FY2010, specifically the funding devoted to Migration and Refugee Assistance and the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund, it is clear that, while he is calling for an increase in funding, it is not a significant change over the past several years.(10) And according to politifact.com, no action has been taken on the two above-mentioned campaign promises.(11)

Moreover, a report by the International Crisis Group indicates that Iraqi refugees have been admitted to the United States “only after unprecedented security checks to which asylum seekers from other nations are not subjected.”(12) By essentially discriminating against Iraqi refugees, the U.S. is failing to meet its international commitments as stipulated in Art. 3 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which states that “[t]he Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin.”

Yet one need not look further than the borders of the United States to observe the continued failings of U.S. policy. A recent study by the International Rescue Committee found that the U.S. refugee resettlement program is “dangerously underfunded”(13), and that the current economic crisis has created a situation in which many Iraqis that have been resettled to the United States “are living in poverty and facing homelessness”.(14)

Obama’s evaluation

So has Obama lived up to his promises ? Is his policy concerning Iraqi refugees considerably different from that of George W. Bush ? As demonstrated by available information, the Iraqi refugee crisis is one area where Obama’s promise of change has not yet been realized. Granted, Obama has not yet held office for even half a year. Many changes that he makes in the U.S. approach to the Iraqi refugee issue will take time before having an impact. Also, beginning during the second half of 2007 the United States has increased the number of refugees it has been accepting for resettlement appreciably.(15) However, the tens of thousands still awaiting resettlement in addition to the continued abysmal conditions of both Iraqis that have been resettled to the United States and also those living in countries neighboring Iraq – without taking into consideration the conditions of Iraqi IDPs – serves as a stark reminder that significant progress is still much needed.

(1) See, for example : International Crisis Group (2008) : Failed Responsibility : Iraqi Refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Middle East Report N°77. Available at : http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/ind...
(2) IOM Press Briefing Notes 05 June 2009. Accessible at : http://iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/pr...
(3) It can, however, be criticized that the U.S. gives disproportionate support to Jordan, owing to the strained political relationship between Washington and Damascus. Furthermore, as the humanitarian crisis continues, it can be argued that the U.S. can and should still do more to alleviate the burden carried by the host countries and to improve conditions for refugees and IDPs—where they currently are located or so that they can return home.
(4) Line from the poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus and inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty.
(5) Iraq refugees knocking : U.S. to let in 7,000 (Associated Press) : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18944557/. By 30 September 2007 the U.S. had admitted a total of 1,608 refugees. Information can be found at : http://www.state.gov/g/prm/c25771.htm
(6) According to the UNHCR, “as neither local integration nor voluntary repatriation is viable for many [refugees], resettlement remains the only durable solution for tens of thousands of Iraqis.” For more information see : http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/...
(7) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press...
(8) http://www.barackobama.com/issues/i...
(9) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press...
(10) Department of State, International Affairs Function 150, FY 2010 Budget Request. Accessible at : http://www.state.gov/documents/orga.... p. 32ff
(11) http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...
(12) International Crisis Group (2008) : Failed Responsibility : Iraqi Refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Middle East Report N°77. p. i/ii.
(13) IRC Report (June, 2009) : Iraqi Refugees in the United States : In Dire Straits. Accessible at : http://www.theirc.org/resources/200.... p. 10
(14) Iraqi refugees face poverty, eviction in U.S. : study (Reuters) : http://www.reuters.com/article/topN...
(15) According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), “[s]ince large-scale Iraqi refugee processing was announced in February 2007, […] 58,243 Iraqi nationals have been referred for resettlement […] USCIS has interviewed 35,764 Iraqi refugee applicants ; approved 27,119 for resettlement and 19,910 Iraqi refugees have arrived in the U.S. as of Feb. 4, 2009.” Information available at : http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...