wfn.org | Episcopalians: Flow of refugees to USA down to a trickle after

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terrorist attacks

February 4, 2002

2002-032

Episcopalians: Flow of refugees to USA down to a trickle
after terrorist attacks

by James Solheim

(ENS) Heightened national security in the wake of Septembers
terrorist attacks has cut the flow of refugees to the United
States to a mere trickle, deeply frustrating attempts by
church-related agencies to resettle those who are being
persecuted.

Each fall the president of the United States is responsible
for authorizing the admissions levels of refugees for the fiscal
year that begins October 1. The terrorist attacks delayed that
action until November 21 and no refugees entered the country
during that seven-week interval. Only 783 have arrived since
then, a fraction of the number compared with the same period
last year.

The State Department, which administers the admission of
refugees, claims that ongoing security concerns have stemmed the
flow and they have now informed national resettlement agencies,
such as Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM), that the number
for this year is now likely to be no more than 50,000. That
reverses a prior commitment to allow 70,000 to enter the
country.

This protracted delay in restarting the refugee program
means that over 20,000 refugees overseas who were prepared to
move to the US are being detained longer in the deplorable
conditions that characterize most refugee camps, said Richard
Parkins, director of EMM. He noted that the agency had resettled
fewer than 50 people so far, compared with nearly 450 for the
same time last year. The delay also inflicts further punishment
on those who are themselves the victims of terror, he added.

A human tragedy

Parkins said that the current stalemate in the movement of
refugees is the most serious crisis the US refugee program has
faced in the 22 years that I have been associated with the
program. He deplored the closing down of resettlement
operations around the country and the disappearance of a
national capacity to resettle refugees, dramatically altering
the nations ability to respond to future refugee crises.

In concert with colleague agencies, EMM has contacted the
Administration, stressing that unless the movement of refugees
is accelerated a human tragedy will befall thousands of
refugees. Parkins argued that when the US reduces its
commitment to resettle refugees, the rest of the world feels
justified in diminishing its hospitality to these persons who
are especially vulnerable. In the very near future we could have
a crisis of unimaginable proportions as resettlement becomes an
even more remote option for so many of the worlds refugees.

Special scrutiny

According to Parkins, the barrier in moving refugees is
linked to heightened security measures invoked by the government
in processing refugees and the requirement that locations where
they are interviewed and screened meet very strict security
standards. While acknowledging the importance of security,
Parkins pointed out that refugees are already among the most
scrutinized category of immigrants admitted to the US. The
cumulative evidence of many years of resettlement reveals a
population of law-abiding, loyal Americans and not ones
harboring or producing terrorists. It seems ironic that refugees
would be targeted for special scrutiny, given the screening to
which they are already subjected and their history of loyalty to
and participation in their adopted homeland.

EMM will join other resettlement agencies in asking that the
implementation of security measures be accelerated and that
refugees not be held hostage to slow implementation, according
to Parkins.

Lifeboats half full

People are suffering from these decisions, said Lavinia
Limon, director of the U.S. Committee on Refugees. These
peopleat least a third of them childrenhave no ability to
survive in their current conditions. They are high-risk people.
This is like sending out the lifeboats half full.

She added that the change was causing the refugee
resettlement infrastructure to crumble since humanitarian
agencies depend on government grants for their work. Parkins
said that EMM has settled so few refugees that affiliates have
little or no revenue. We have had a considerable number of
staff layoffs and some affiliates may not survive if the
movement of refugees does not begin soon, he said. He found
some encouragement in a recent announcement by Commissioner
James Zigler of the Immigration and Naturalization Service that
the agency was committed to honoring the presidents call for
70,000 refugees this year. It is now incumbent on the State
Department to do its part in building upon the INS pledge, he
said.

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--James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service.