Human Rights First is working to secure a comprehensive response to the Iraqi refugee crisis. We have pressed the United States to bring some of the most vulnerable refugees to safety through a major resettlement initiative and to lead the international community in providing aid for refugees and those displaced within Iraq. We now call on the Obama administration and other international actors to ensure that Iraq’s displaced are not forced to return to their homes except under safe, voluntary, and dignified conditions. As the UN refugee agency said in May 2009, “The improvement of the situation in Iraq does not yet constitute fundamental changes sufficient to promote or encourage massive returns to Iraq.”
Washington, DC Following President Barack Obama’s affirmation today that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will end on August 31,…
Last week in written testimony submitted for the record to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Human Rights…
A reader wrote into the New York Review of Books asking the very important question about what to do about…
By Jesse Bernstein, Senior Associate, and Ruthie Epstein, Researcher and AdvocateRefugee Protection ProgramCrossposted from Huffington Post The List Project to…
By Jesse Bernstein and Parastou Hassouri AMMAN – Fatima is a single mother who fled Iraq after militia had kidnapped…
Sunday’s Election Offers Opportunity to Reengage Iraqi Leadership on Key Issues Affecting Iraq’s Stability
Today Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin took a first step to help LGBT individuals fleeing violence or persecution…
Iraqi Refugee Act Anniversary Provides Opportunity to Reaffirm U.S. Commitment to Protecting Iraqi Refugees
The L.A. Times and the independent investigative news outlet ProPublica published an excellent piece on Friday by T. Christian Miller…
Angelina Jolie’s travels to Syria to visit Iraqi refugees has called attention to the largely forgotten plight of Iraqi refugees.…
U.S. Meets Iraqi Resettlement Goal for FY 09 – But Additional Measures Needed
Human Rights First welcomes the U.S. announcement that it has met its goal of resettling 17,000 vulnerable Iraqi refugees by September 30 – in total, 18,833 Iraqi refugees found safety in the United States in FY 09. But we call on the U.S. government to devote additional attention and resources to resolving a number of remaining impediments that delay timely resettlement of the most vulnerable Iraqis.
Read HRF press release
Read HRF report “Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2008″
Click here to view complete data from FY 05 to FY 09
Source: U.S. Dept. of State – Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration – Office of Admissions – Refugee Processing Center
Rights group says additional measures needed to protect at-risk Iraqis
