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U.S. Agrees To Resettle Refugees From Iraq
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Dobriansky said she has been asked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to lead a task force to respond to the situation.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on immigration, last week welcomed the creation of the task force to deal with "this massive humanitarian crisis in Iraq and neighboring countries."
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who traveled to the Middle East in December, said at a recent briefing at the Council on Foreign Relations that he had told Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that it was in his best interest to help stabilize Iraq and curb insurgent activity to stem the flow of Iraqi refugees into Syria.
An official of an Arab government, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria is allowing insurgents to slip across its borders into Iraq while ignoring the transfer of funds to Iraqi insurgents through its territory from Iran and from radical Sunni individuals in Saudi Arabia.
Guterres, who has visited the region, told reporters Wednesday that Syria and Jordan, though not signatories to the 1951 U.N. convention on refugees, were bearing the brunt of Iraq's refugee crisis "based on their own Arab hospitality tradition." He suggested that the generosity of the past few years was taking a toll on those countries.
The influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees is burdening their infrastructures, education and health systems and raising concerns about security, Guterres added.
He visited Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria and Jordan before coming to Washington to discuss how protection and assistance can be provided to Iraqi refugees.
Dobriansky said Washington would fully support a conference by the U.N. refugee agency to be held in Geneva in April to secure pledges from international donors. The $18 million U.S. pledge to the agency will be in addition to more than $76 million it has provided for worldwide operations over the last four years.
Guterres said that the 7,000 refugees to be resettled in the United States would be the first of 20,000 who will eventually be resettled in third countries.
Partlow reported from Baghdad.
