20 CONGRESSMEN URGE U.S. FUNDING FOR IRAQI ARMENIANS’ RESETTLEMENT
by Emil Sanamyan
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Monday May 17, 2010
Children of Iraqi Armenians who have settled in Darbnik,
Armenia. Azad-Hye.net
Washington – The United States should commit additional funds for
resettlement of Iraqi Armenian refugees to Armenia, twenty members of
Congress argued in May 14 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The letter, made available to The Armenian Reporter, was initiated by
Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), with Reps.
Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) as its original
co-signers.
The letter proposed that as part of the Obama Administration’s $150
million commitment in response to the United Nations’ 2010 Global
Appeal for Iraq, U.S. should set aside specific funds to provide
Iraqi Armenians, currently displaced to Syria and Jordan, with an
opportunity of resettlement to Armenia.
In 2008, the State Department allocated $1 million for to the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Yerevan, which since
has worked with the Armenian government to help resettle about 1,000
Iraqi Armenians in Armenia.
The letter also noted that the Armenian government remains committed to
"offer all Iraqi Armenian refugees a track to citizenship; formally
participate in UNHCR’s Iraqi resettlement program; and make land and
facilities available for refugees from Iraq to rebuild their lives."
Ross Vartian of the U.S.-Armenia Public Affairs Committee (USAPAC)
praised the congressional letter.
"We welcome this initiative by Reps. McCollum, Pallone, Walz and
Schiff to make certain that Armenians displaced as a result of the
war in Iraq have an opportunity to settle in Armenia to begin to
rebuild their lives," Mr. Vartian told The Reporter. "We thank all
members who have co-signed this important letter."
Members of Congress who co-signed the letter include Gary Ackerman
(D-N.Y.), Joe Baca (D-Calif.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Michael Capuano
(D-Mass.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Charles
Gonzalez (D-Tex.), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Mike Honda (D-Calif.).
Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), James McGovern
(D-Mass.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Jan
Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Jackie Speier (D-Calif.).
Since its establishment in 2006, USAPAC has worked to address the needs
of Armenians affected by the war in Iraq and resulting humanitarian
crisis.
Full text of the letter is below:
May 14, 2010
The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Clinton:
We are writing to urge the Obama Administration to make a commitment of
funds to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to assist in
the resettlement of Iraqi Armenian Christian refugees from Syria and
Jordan to Armenia. It is our understanding that the State Department
is in the process of formulating the Administration’s response in
support of UNHCR’s 2010 Global Appeal for Iraq. We feel strongly that
it is essential that an initial and specific U.S.
commitment is made to meeting the needs of Iraqi Armenian Christian
refugees.
According to a March 30, 2010 UNHCR press release, conditions for Iraqi
refugees both inside and outside of Iraq are becoming increasingly
desperate at the very time that international concern appears to be
fading. "The dwindling media interest in Iraqi refugees," the UNHCR
says, "is not matched by a decline in the scale of the problem."
With a planned U.S. troop withdrawal by the end of 2011, dwindling
international support for Iraqi refugees, and the campaign of violence
against Iraqi Christians continuing unabated, the U.S. must fulfill
its obligation to this vulnerable population.
As you know, the State Department’s 2008 allocation of $1 million
to UNHCR Armenia has enabled more than one thousand Iraqi refugees
to begin to rebuild their lives via resettlement in Armenia. It has
been a cost-effective and regional solution for a group that might
otherwise seek resettlement in the United States.
UNHCR’s "Regional Response Plan for Iraqi Refugees" released in
January 2010 identifies hundreds of Iraqi Armenian Christian refugees
registered with UNHCR in Jordan. The number of refugees in Syria,
the primary asylum destination for Armenian Christians fleeing Iraq,
is known to be significantly larger. Of the more than two million
refugees who have fled Iraq, only a small portion, less then 20
percent, have been registered by UNHCR thus far. Since hopes for
successful repatriation and reintegration in Iraq have failed to
materialize it is certain that the need for resettlement of Iraqi
Armenian refugees will persist for the foreseeable future.
It is our understanding that the Government of Armenia has made a
formal commitment to U.N. High Commissioner Antonio Guterres to:
offer all Iraqi Armenian refugees a track to citizenship; formally
participate in UNHCR’s Iraqi resettlement program; and make land and
facilities available for refugees from Iraq to rebuild their lives.
Armenia has, in fact, delivered on these promises substantially over
the last two years.
The U.S. commitment of additional funds to UNHCR will allow UNHCR in
Armenia to extend its assistance to Iraqi Armenian Christians while
allowing for an accelerated resettlement of additional refugees from
Syria and Jordan to Armenia.
Again, we urge the Obama Administration to sustain the momentum of
what UNHCR, the United States, and Armenia have already accomplished
on behalf of Iraqi Armenian Christian refugees.
Sincerely,
Betty McCollum Frank Pallone, Jr.
Adam Schiff Tim Walz
Raúl M. Grijalva Charles A. Gonzalez
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
