1350 Iraqi Palestinians to be resettled in US
AS many as 1350 Iraqi Palestinians will be resettled in the United States. The US State Department confirmed Tuesday that the group of refugees, the largest-ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees in the United States, will start arriving later this year.
WASHINGTON — As many as 1350 Iraqi Palestinians will be resettled in the United States.
The State Department confirmed Tuesday that the group of refugees, the largest-ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees in the United States, will start arriving later this year and end up mostly in Southern California, according to a report Tuesday in the Christian Science Monitor. The move is seen as part of a US effort to help with the refugee crisis created by its invasion of Iraq.
The United States, under pressure from Arab states, has a long standing policy of not accepting Palestinian refugees. A total of just 16 Palestinian refugees were resettled in the US in 2007 and 2008. But a State Department spokesman told the paper that the Iraqi Palestinians would essentially be treated as Iraqis. He added that they would be examined for any possible terrorist ties.
Iraqi Palestinians were treated well by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, and thus have been become unpopular with those now leading Iraq. They have been living in poor conditions in the Al Waleed refugee camp near Iraq’s border with Syria, according to the Monitor.
JTA
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