Democrats Call for ‘Flood’ of Muslims to U.S.

WND: 'We must dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept'

A group of 14 Democrat senators has written a letter to President Obama urging him to “dramatically increase” the number of Syrian refugees being resettled into American cities and towns.

They say the U.S. needs to take in at least 65,000 Syrians as permanent refugees over the next year-and-a-half.

“While the United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, we must also dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees that we accept for resettlement,” says the four-page letter to Obama, copied to Secretary of State John Kerry and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.

More than 3.5 million Syrians are registered with the United Nations as refugees, and the U.N. wants to assign about 350,000 of them to so-called “third-party countries.”

The 14 senators, led by Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., cite the research of the Refugee Council USA to make their case for 65,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016. RCUSA is the main lobbying arm of the nine agencies that contract with the federal government to resettle refugees in cities and towns across America.

The more refugees brought into the country, the more government grants doled out to the nine resettlement agencies. Among them are the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Church World Service, International Rescue Committee and the National Association of Evangelicals’ World Relief.

More than 90 percent of Syrian refugees will be Muslim

Of the 843 Syrians resettled in the U.S. since the start of the Syrian civil war, 92 percent have been Muslim and about 7 percent Christian. Syria’s overall population is 90 percent Muslim and close to 10 percent Christian. » | Leo Hohmann | Saturday, May 23, 2015

UK Slammed for Offering Syrian Refugees Charity, Not Asylum

The United Nations is urging EU members to take in Syrian refugees, who fled the warzone but are now struggling to survive in neighbouring countries. Several European nations have answered the call, and are granting asylum to Syrians. But one of the largest member states is being criticised for shutting its doors, as Tesa Arcilla reports.

Barack Obama 'Does Not Deserve' His Nobel Peace Prize Say Angry Syrian Refugees in Zaatari Camp

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syrian refugees who have fled to camps in neighbouring countries are furious with President Barack Obama, and some say he should have his Nobel Peace Prize withdrawn.

Before Mohammad Dallah fled his home in Ghouta in the aftermath of the chemical weapons attack on the Damascus suburb, he sealed a band of brothers pact with two elder siblings.

After an arduous trek through his war-torn country, the 22-year old reached the vast Jordanian refugee camp Zaatari on Sunday but his mood was one of bitter disappointment.

He proclaimed himself trapped as he squinted against the harsh glare of the sunlight on the grey gravel flint of the camp. News that President Barack Obama had put military intervention on hold pending Congressional approval was a hammer blow.

Showing an awareness of international policy that belied the destitution of a newly arrived refugee, he called for the Nobel Prize committee to relieve the US president of his 2009 peace prize.>br />
"America has a responsibility to launch strikes to prevent the killing by Assad. Obama has a Nobel Prize but he does not deserve it because he has not responded to so many deaths," he said. » | Damien McElroy, Zaatari, Jordan | Monday, September 02, 2013

One Third of Syrians Have Fled Their Homes, Reports United Nations

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Almost one third of Syria's population have abandoned their homes to escape the conflict under the Assad regime, according to a new United Nations estimate.

As a result, international aid to Syrians uprooted by civil war is a only "drop in the sea" of what is needed, according to Tarik Kurdi, the representative of the UN's refugee agency in Syria[.]

He said the UN estimated that five million Syrians have been displaced inside the country. A further two million have fled to neighbouring countries, according to previous UN figures. The total, of about seven million, amounts to nearly one third of Syria's population of about 23 million when the conflict began.

Syria's brutal two-and-a-half-year-old conflict has also claimed more than 100,000 lives, including hundreds who - according to the US and others - were killed in chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian regime near Damascus on Aug 21.

The government of Syria's President Bashar Assad's government has denied involvement, instead blaming rebels for the attacks. » | Associated Press | Monday, September 02, 2013

Massive Syrian Refugee Wave Brings Terror Threat to German Doorstep
While the US is still to decide just how far it might go with Syria, its EU allies are preparing themselves for a possible flood of refugees from the war-torn state. Germany could bear the brunt, giving shelter to some 10000 who've fled Syria. That's as Germany already fears the radical threat potentially posed by the return of hundreds of Europeans, who've gone to fight Assad.

Zuerst! »

William Hague Visits Syrian Refugees in Jordan
During a visit to a refugee camp in Jordan, William Hague says President Bashar al-Assad's regime is cracking down on civilians in Syria. The foreign secretary was taken by helicopter to the refugee camp near Jordan's border with Syria. More than 110,000 Syrians have registered with the UN refugee agency since April

Flight of Syrians into Jordan Intensifying
Hundreds of Syrians approach the agency daily to register for its services and protection, pushing the total number of registered Syrian refugees in Jordan to over 22,000, the UNHCR in Amman has said. Andrew Harper, the UN refugee agency's country representative, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that 7,800 Syrian refugees had been registered in May 2012, marking the highest number of registrations in a single month since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government began 14 months ago. Nisreen el-Shamayleh reports from Zarqa, Jordan.

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