International20 Congressmen urge U.S. funding for Iraqi Armenians’ resettlement
Published: 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
