http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070430/1a_lede30.art.htmFew Iraqi refugees allowed into U.S.
Thousands flee because of war
By Barbara Slavin
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The United States admitted 68 Iraqi refugees in the six months through March, a tiny percentage of those fleeing their homes because of the war, State Department figures show.
The United States has been unable to accept more Iraqis in part because of the time needed for background checks, which have become more stringent since 9/11, Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of State, told USA TODAY.
About 50,000 Iraqis leave their country every month, and 2 million have fled Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to the United Nations. Most have settled in neighboring Syria and Jordan. The influx has stretched health care and other social services there.
At a conference this month, the U.N. called the Iraqi refugee crisis the most serious in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians after the creation of Israel in 1948, and it urged other countries around the world to share the burden.
Yet, from October through March, the United States gave refuge to far more Somalis, Iranians, Burmese and Cubans than Iraqis, according to the State Department.
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