Iraqi exodus could test Bush policy

[maddezmom]

Total expected to exceed quota for refugees
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff | December 11, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have fled their homeland are likely to seek refugee status in the United States, humanitarian groups said, putting intense pressure on the Bush administration to reexamine a policy that authorizes only 500 Iraqis to be resettled here next year.

The official US policy has been that the refugee situation is temporary and that most of the estimated 1.5 million who have fled to Jordan, Syria, and elsewhere will eventually return to Iraq. But US and international officials now acknowledge that the instability in Iraq has made it too dangerous for many refugees, especially Iraqi Christians, to return any time soon.

Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for refugees and migration, said that while the Bush administration does not think resettlement is needed for most refugees, its policy could rapidly change.

"It is quite possible that we will in time decide that because of vulnerabilities of certain populations that resettlement is the right option," Sauerbrey said. While acknowledging that the administration originally set a quota of no more than 500 Iraqi refugees, she said the president has the legal authority to admit 20,000 additional refugees.

more:http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2006/12/11/iraqi_exodus_could_test_bush_policy/

Eventually, specialists said, the number of Iraqi refugees settling in the United States could be vastly higher.

[qwlauren35]

1. If we destroy a country,

Shouldn't we have an ethical obligation to its refugees?

Nah, too compassionate...

Besides, no one has heard that term since the Year 2000.