Blog
Published on August 13, 2013
On Thursday, the Obama Administration agreed to start resettling up to 2,000 Syrian refugees. With no end in sight to the war in Syria, and roughly two million people having fled to neighboring countries and beyond, this announcement is a welcome step that can provide life-saving protection to some of the most vulnerable refugees, including survivors of sexual violence and torture.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has compared the outflow to that of the Rwandan genocide. U.N. Refugee Agency statistics show that Lebanon hosts 677,965 Syrian refugees, Jordan 515,824 and Turkey 433,971 with Iraq and Egypt hosting over 100,000 each, and the numbers are likely even higher as some refugees do not formally register with the U.N. It is critical that the international community supports these countries, including through financial assistance and resettlement.
The United States has played a leading role in providing humanitarian assistance to those inside Syria as well as refugees within the region. In May the United States announced it would provide an additional $100 million in assistance such as food, shelter and health care to refugees and support for host communities, bringing to nearly $510 million American assistance since the beginning of the crisis. In addition, the United States has contributed significant bilateral aid to Jordan to assist it with the costs of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees. U.S. financial support, along with Thursday’s announcement of increased resettlement, sends an important signal to Syria’s neighbors that the United States is committed to sharing the responsibility of resolving the crisis.
As the United States commences resettlement processing, Human Rights First urges it to:
Statistics show that the United States resettled only 85 Syrian refugees between October 2010 and July 2013. While resettling 2,000 is a modest step, it should help encourage other states to join the effort. With resolution of the conflict a remote possibility, the United States along with other states and the U.N. Refugee Agency should develop and implement a long term plan to assist Syria’s refugees and displaced people. Given their acute needs, and the impact of this refugee crisis on Syria’s neighbors, effectively addressing the refugee crisis—and safeguarding access to international protection— should be a top priority for U.S. policymakers.