The assertions in Nina Shea’s Oct. 7 op-ed “The U.S. and U.N. Have Abandoned Christian Refugees”
about the UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency do serious disservice to your
readers, while wielding a wrecking ball of tired U.N. bashing and
half-informed claims.
The difficulties and vulnerabilities of
Christians and other minority groups in Iraq and Syria are known
extremely well to the UNHCR. The notion, however, that we don’t care for
them, or that the solution might be as simple as removing these
populations from the region—assuming all would wish to leave—is wrong
and out of touch with the realities of both refugee resettlement and the
complex realities of the Middle East, of whom Christians have for two
millennia been a part.
Overall, there are 4.7 million Syrian
refugees registered in countries neighboring Syria, of whom about 1.4%
belong to minority religious groups. The number of refugees living in
camps is about 480,000. The remaining 4.2 million refugees are scattered
in informal settlements or shelters in urban and semiurban
environments. The UNHCR and our partners have over the past five years
set up a full range of assistance programs to all urban refugees. We
also work tirelessly to help internally displaced people in Syria and
Iraq.
Resettlement, which is normally reserved for the most vulnerable, is
one of three traditional solutions available for refugees, that is, for
people who have crossed an international border. The others are local
integration and, in circumstances where safe conditions allow, voluntary
return (neither option is at present possible in Syria’s context).
Offering resettlement places isn’t an obligation but requires
willingness on the part of receiving countries. And while we have seen
progress, especially this year, this willingness is in short supply: The
UNHCR refers refugees for resettlement, but countries alone decide
whether to accept them.
When it comes to identifying who should
be resettled, an internationally agreed process akin to triage applies,
with the focus being on people who are at greatest risk. Membership in
religious or other minority groups can certainly make a person more or
less vulnerable, but so can many other factors. A human-rights focus
requires a holistic assessment of individual circumstances that takes
all factors into account.
Since 2013, of all the Syrian and Iraqi refugees submitted for
resettlement to the U.S., 15.2% are Christians and 3.2% are of other
minority backgrounds. In the case of Syrian Christian refugees in
Lebanon, the U.S. wasn’t able to conduct resettlement interviews in
Lebanon between 2014 and early 2016 due to U.S. security requirements
for resettlement interviews. Therefore, all Christian cases referred for
resettlement during that time were referred to countries other than the
U.S.
Ms. Shea argues that Syrian Christians have had difficulty
registering with the UNHCR because of their ethnic or religious
background. This is plain wrong. The UNHCR has undertaken particular
efforts to encourage and facilitate registration by religious and other
minorities, such as mobile registration teams, outreach units and help
desks. By way of example, when the Jordanian government facilitated the
entry of Iraqi Christians from Mosul in 2014, the UNHCR sent mobile
registration teams to a number of churches, as well as to Madaba, a
biblical site in Jordan with a high concentration of Christians, to
conduct registration.
Ms. Shea neglects to mention that the vast majority of Christians and
Yazidis are finding shelter in urban areas of the region, in common
with other refugees. She also claims that few reside in camps because of
fear of discrimination and becoming targets of Muslim extremists.
However, the UNHCR seeks to ensure that Christians and Yazidis are being
included in getting the support that they need wherever they are. We
help people whether they are in camps or not. Refugees don’t need to be
in camps to be referred for resettlement, and in fact most referrals are
for people living outside camps.
Ms. Shea makes the astonishing
claim that former High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres was of
the opinion that Christians in the Middle East shouldn’t be resettled.
This is sheer nonsense. A hope expressed for measures to be taken to
preserve the religious and cultural fabric of the region isn’t the same
as saying that vulnerable individuals should not be considered for
resettlement. At the UNHCR, our duty is to help each and everyone,
irrespective of creed, race or nationality, who flees persecution or
conflict and is in need.
Adrian Edwards
UNHCR Spokesperson
Geneva