Iraq
I
and other western forces. Refugees International has called this the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. Given our central role in Iraq, I believe we have a responsibility to help these people. We need to lead an international initiative to support Middle Eastern countries hosting Iraqi civilians. We need to recognize and support the constructive role Syria is playing in hosting Iraqi refugees and help it keep its borders open. We need to significantly increase our support to the UN Refugee Agency so that it can meet the needs of Iraqi refugees. We need to agree to resettle vulnerable individuals, particularly refugees who had to flee because they worked for Americans, including U.S. government, military, contractor and nonprofit organizations.
Iraqis are fleeing because they have a genuine and credible fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Whether Sunni, Shi’a, Christian or Palestinian, they have been directly victimized by armed forces. The refugees, faced with no legal work options in their current host countries, are now hoping to resettle in Europe and North America because they know that if they return to Iraq, they will die.
The rapidly increasing and deadly violence in Iraq has made civilian life untenable, and is creating a refugee crisis that is essentially exporting the nation’s instability to neighboring countries. It is essential that the U.S.
government take the necessary steps to meet the needs of Iraqi refugees. We need to exhibit what democracy is really all about.
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