Timeline: U.S. Government Response to Iraqi Refugee Crisis

2006

December 2006

Jordan effectively closes its borders to almost all fleeing Iraqi refugees (with exceptions often made for medical cases and other reasons). This follows on a policy of denying entry to males roughly 18-40 and, reportedly, to Iraqi Shia.

2007

January 2007

16^th Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Iraqi refugees. Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, testifies. She states, "I want to assure this committee that this issue is the very top priority for my bureau." She also says, "We have no quota on the number of Iraqis who can be resettled to the United States as refugees." She says that BPRM is ready to use "the overwhelming majority" of 20,000 unallocated refugee admissions spots for Iraqi refugees, and that she is holding conversations with the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on in-country processing.

February 2007

5^th Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announces a new Iraq Refugee and Internally Displaced Task Force, led by Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky. Task force is tasked with coordinating assistance to the region, resettlement, and efforts to protect U.S.-affiliated Iraqi refugees.

14^th In a press conference with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Under Secretary Dobriansky states that her bureau is considering special immigrant visa legislation to assist Iraqis who worked with the U.S.

The State Department tells "60 Minutes" producers David Gelber and Joel Bach that "fewer than 10" Iraqis who fled after 2003 have been resettled in the U.S.

March 2007

26^th House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing "Iraqi Volunteers; Iraqi Refugees: What Is America's Obligation?"

April 2007

17th UNHCR holds international conference on Iraqi refugees and IDPs. Assistant Sec. Sauerbrey, when asked about U.S. resettlement, says, "We have no limit, except we have a 70,000 presidential determination for refugee resettlement for this year worldwide.  Of that, 20,000 was an unallocated number to be used wherever needed.  So I think it is fair to say that if we get the referrals we could resettle up to 25,000 Iraqi refugees within the President's determination this year."

Under Secretary Dobriansky announces a special immigrant visa proposal that would only apply to Iraqis who had worked for the U.S. government for three years or more.

May 2007

Department of Homeland Security refugee corps officers are able to complete one circuit ride to Syria, interviewing 242 Iraqi refugees for resettlement. Following this visit, Syria denies visas to DHS refugee corps officers.

10^th Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduces the Responsibility to Iraqi Refugees Act. The Act provides 15,000 SIVs per year for Iraqis affiliated with the U.S., designates senior coordinators for Iraqi refugees in the region, raises the refugee admissions ceiling for Iraqis, facilitates access for ethnic and religious minorities, and mandates in-country processing. It gains 76 cosponsors, mainly Democrats, but little organized support.  

29^th  DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff announces new enhanced security screening procedures for Iraqi refugees.

June 2007

UNHCR exceeds its target of 7,000 Iraqi referrals to the U.S., referring 7,911 Iraqi refugees.

19^th Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduce S. 1651, the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act. The bill creates 5,000 SIVs each year for 5 years for Iraqis who worked with the U.S. government and their families, mandates in-country processing, establishes senior coordinators for Iraqi refugees at embassies in the region, and gives direct access to the U.S. resettlement program for Iraqis who worked with U.S. media, NGOs, and contractors. The bill gains 14 bipartisan co-sponsors

26^th In an e-mail, DHS and White House staff express opposition to an amendment proposed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) that would categorize Iraqi religious minorities as P-2 refugees of special humanitarian concern.

28^th BPRM announces a direct access program in Jordan and Egypt for Iraqi translators and some direct- hire U.S. government employees.

According to resettlement agencies, the Iraqis resettled this month include the first families that fled the current war, as opposed to backlogged cases of Iraqis who fled prior to 2003.

July 2007

7^th U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker writes a cable to Sec. Rice, informing her that they have recovered the bodies of an Iraqi Chaldo-Assyrian couple who had worked for the embassy for three years. Crocker notes that at least nine embassy employees have been killed, and asks for SIVs for all of his staff: "We believe they should all be treated equally; and we should reward our LES for their sacrifice, loyalty and dedication to the USG." He also notes that while the staff live in relative safety on the embassy compound, he cannot house their families inside the Green Zone and as a result they remain separated and in danger.

August 2007

22^nd In a letter to the Chair of the International Commission on Religious Freedom, Sec. Chertoff confirms that Iraqis who provided support to opposition groups fighting Saddam Hussein could be inadmissible on the grounds of providing material support for terrorism. 

September 2007

7^th Amb. Crocker sends a cable to Washington stating that the resettlement process takes too long. He notes that there is only one team of interviewers in Jordan and none in Syria, and at their current pace "it would take this team alone almost two years to complete the interviews." He also notes that Syria and Jordan badly need assistance and that funding UN health, food, and emergency appeals will require more money.

19^th Sec. Rice appoints Amb. James Foley as Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues. At DHS, Lori Scialabba is appointed Senior Advisor for Iraqi Refugee Affairs, but this is a collateral duty for Ms. Scialabba.

28^th Senate includes Sens. Kennedy and Smith's "Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act" in a manager's amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2009, with unanimous consent.

30^th Fiscal year ends. The U.S. resettles 1,608 Iraqi refugees in FY07, primarily from Turkey and Jordan, falling short of the various targets (25,000, 7,000, 3,500) PRM has stated.

UNHCR's implementing partners report that fewer Iraqis are being internally displaced than in previous months, mostly to due sectarian homogenization, but also due to reduced violence in Baghdad and Anbar.

October 2007

Ending a longstanding policy of providing asylum to fleeing Iraqis, Syria closes its border to Iraqi refugees and begins to more tightly enforce visa restrictions on Iraqi refugees residing in the country. The new border policies are briefly reversed to honor Ramadan, and then restored. From this point forward, most Iraqis no longer have an external flight option. The New York Times reports that the Iraqi government repeatedly pressed the Syrian authorities to take this decision, most recently in an August meeting with Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. UN officials and others on the ground privately express concern that Iraqi officials, regional governments, and even potentially the U.S. see it in their interest to encourage unsafe returns to Iraq.

Late October. The Iraqi Red Crescent, the Iraqi government, and the UNHCR report that more Iraqis are leaving Syria than entering, leading to reports of refugees returning to Iraq. The new stringent Syrian border policy, economic desperation, and security improvements in Iraq are all provided as explanations for the returns.

Senior Coordinator Amb. Foley and Senior Advisor Scialabba travel to Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. Amb. Foley meets with Syrian authorities to discuss access for DHS refugee corps interviewers.

November 2007

8^th David Welch, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, tells Congress that Syria has agreed to give DHS officers visas so that they can interview Iraqi refugees.

27^th Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration estimates that 30,000 families have returned from abroad in 2007. The number is questioned by other parties.

30^th According to an Associated Press article written by Matthew Lee, State and DHS disagree over procedures for access to the U.S. resettlement program for Iraqi contractors who worked with the U.S. Lee reports that the DHS Senior Advisor for Iraq Refugee Issues acknowledges the disagreements between the two agencies.

27th Amb. Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus send a letter to Prime Minister Al Maliki suggesting that he provide a mandate to the Ministry of Displacement and Migration (currently not a full ministry), establish a national policy for refugees, and clarify the legal framework for displaced persons. Amb. Crocker and Gen. Petraeus suggest that these steps be taken by January 15, 2008.

365 families return from Syria in a convoy organized by the Iraqi government. The families receive grants of 1 million dinar, or roughly $800 apiece. This is the only confirmed report of refugees returning from abroad receiving financial incentives, and the Ministry of Displacement and Migration has no information on whether the government will continue the incentives. Baghdad governorate (but not others) provides a similar incentive to IDPs returning from other parts of Iraq. 

December 2007

7^th At an on-the-record panel at the Center for American Progress, John Merrill states that Under Secretary Dobriansky's Task Force for Iraqi Refugees does not meet. Merrill is the Director for Refugees, IDPs, and Parole Programs, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Middle East - Iraq Office.

12^th Human Rights First and eight other NGOs send a letter to National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, expressing concerns over lack of leadership and interagency tension, and encouraging the White House to prepare to implement the Kennedy-Smith act.  Sen. Kennedy addresses a letter to Hadley expressing similar concerns.

12^th Conference report on DoD Authorization Act of 2009 is agreed to in the House, including Kennedy-Smith language.

14^th Conference report is agreed to in the Senate.

19^th DoD Authorization Act of 2009 is presented to President Bush.

21^st  State announces a direct access program for Iraqis who are close family members of U.S citizens, but the program is officially implemented only in Egypt and Jordan.

31^st Assistant Sec. Sauerbrey's term expires, and Sam Witten is appointed Acting Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

 

2008

January 2008

The Iraqi government cuts the Public Distribution System food basket in half. The PDS provides basic food rations, including powdered infant milk, wheat flour, and sugar to most Iraqis and many IDPs. 

23^rd  Reps. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) and John Dingell (D-MI) send a letter to President Bush urging increased funding for Iraqi refugees, requesting that next year's budget include $1.5 billion for humanitarian assistance for 2.4 million Iraqis displaced within the country and 2.5 million refugees living in neighboring countries.

28^th President Bush signs the Defense Authorization Act of 2009 into law, and with it, Sens. Kennedy and Smith's "Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act."

February 2008

4^th President Bush presents his FY 09 budget to Congress. In the Foreign Operations 150 account, Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) receives about three-quarters of FY 08's enacted funding, and $59 million less than the President's FY 08 request. The MRA line item for overseas assistance, which funds U.S. contributions to UN appeals for refugees, takes a particularly significant cut, $498 million as opposed to the $784 million that was enacted in FY 08.

20^th State announces an expanded P-2 direct access program for Iraqi refugees, as is required under the Kennedy-Smith law. The program allows Iraqis who worked with contractors, NGOs, and media organizations to apply directly for U.S. resettlement through the International Office of Migration (State's Overseas Processing Entity). State is able to implement the program only in Jordan and Egypt.

The State Department reaches its FY 08 quota of 500 special immigrant visas for Iraqi and Afghan translators and places 551 Iraqis and Afghans with approved petitions on hold.

21^st Lebanon agrees to release some 500 Iraqi refugees from detention in the Roumieh central prison, and to give all refugees a three-month grace period to try to obtain employer sponsorship and regularize their status.

26^th House Foreign Affairs Subcommittees on the Middle East and South Asia and International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight hold joint hearing "Iraqi Refugees: Can the U.S. Do More to Help?"

March 2008

11^th House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia holds hearing "Neglected Responsibilities: The U.S. Response to the Iraqi Refugee Crisis."

DHS interviewers are sent to Baghdad to interview 33 Iraqi employees of the embassy and their families. It is more than a year after Ellen Sauerbrey stated that State was exploring in-country processing, and almost 9 months after Amb. Crocker requested SIVs for his Iraqi staff.

Congress and State work together to try to resolve the SIV hold issue and to clarify when the 5,000 SIVs mandated by the Kennedy-Smith law will become available.