“The 10,000th Syrian refugee will arrive this afternoon (Monday)”, National Security Advisor Susan Rice announced in a statement.
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Obama sought a sixfold increase in the number of Syrian refugees provided safe haven in the United States. National Security Advisory Susan Rice announced that the goal will be met this afternoon and reiterated President Obama’s commitment to do more to “strengthen the worldwide response to humanitarian crises around the world”.
A total of 85,000 refugees will be admitted to the US this year from countries including Burma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Iraq, Somalia, Ukraine and Syria, National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice said Monday.
The United Nations had registered 4.8 million Syrian refugees registered as of August 16 – the vast majority of which reside in neighboring countries. “We recognize that more needs to be done to help those who are besieged inside Syria; more has to be done to assist refugees; more has to be done to support Syria’s neighbors, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey; and more has to be done to resolve this brutal conflict that has cost far too many lives and forced far too many people from their homes”.
Most refugees resettled in the US are first referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
This admission of refugees into the United States follows already substantial us aid of $5.6 billion so far to Syria and neighbors.
Obama announced last fall that his administration meant to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees during fiscal year 2016 as the migrant crisis overwhelmed Europe and the Middle East last summer.
Wells said the target of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S.in the 2016 fiscal year will be reached Monday, as several hundred Syrians depart from Jordan over 24 hours.
“We will admit at least 85,000 refugees in total this year, including vulnerable individuals and families from Burma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Iraq, Somalia, Ukraine, and many other countries”, she added. She said the USA has committed to working with the global community to increase funding for humanitarian assistance and double the number of refugees afforded the opportunity to resettle.
This article has been updated with additional details on the Syrian refugees admitted.
Miliband called on the Obama administration to accept 140,000 refugees in 2017. The top two destinations in the US for the Syrians are MI, which has always been a destination for Syrian immigrants, and California.
As of Sunday, the US had resettled 9,902 Syrian refugees since last September.
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According to the White House, Syrian refugees are the most aggressively vetted of all admitted to the United States, facing in-person interviews and stringent biographical and biometric vetting before they enter the country, a process that takes up to 18 months.
