legislation

From a press release dated September 28, 2006, by Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.:

IRAQI REFUGEE BILL PASSES

"Last night the Senate acted and stood up to help Iraqi refugees. I want to thank Senators Levin and Senators McCain for adopting my amendment, the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2007, cosponsored by a bipartisan group of Senators: Senators Smith, Levin, Hagel, Biden, Brownback, Lieberman, Leahy, Snowe, Durbin, Voinovich, Feinstein, Collins, Obama, Dole, Menendez, Mikulski, and Clinton."

"The amendment approved by the Senate last night will cut through the red tape. It requires the Secretary of State to establish a refugee processing program in Iraq and in countries in the region for Iraqis threatened because of their association with the United States Government. Those Iraqis who worked with our government will be able to apply directly to the United States in Iraq – rather than going through the United Nations referral system outside Iraq.

It authorizes 5,000 special immigrant visas yearly for five years for Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. Government in Iraq and are threatened as a result. It also allows Iraqis in the United States who have been denied asylum because conditions in Iraq changed after Saddam Hussein’s government fell, to have their cases re-heard.

From WikiNews - To view the WikiNews article, follow this link: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Denmark_withdraws_troops_from_Iraq

On July 20, Denmark said that it had airlifted translators and other Iraqi employees with their families. In total it was about 200 people that by cooperating with MNF had been in danger of reprisals from insurgents.

"Out of concern for the interpreters and their families' security as well as the security of the Danish base in Iraq, the Defence Ministry has chosen to inform the public after the interpreters and others had left Iraq," the Danish Defence Ministry said in a statement.

"They had been working for us for about four years, and those who felt their security in Iraq was threatened have been granted visas to go to Denmark" where they can apply for asylum, the Danish ambassador to Iraq, Bo Eric Weber told Reuters.

From an article by Charles Pope of The Oregonian, details of Sens. Edward Kennedy D-Mass., and Gordon Smith R-Ore, calling for accelerating the process for giving Iraqi refugees asylum in the United States.

To read the full article, follow this link: http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1190161...

WASHINGTON DC -- Congress, spurred by stories of gruesome retaliation and squalid living conditions, is moving to liberalize and accelerate the process for giving Iraqi refugees asylum in the United States.

The latest step came Tuesday when Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., offered legislation that would streamline the system for processing requests and create a special visa for Iraqis who have "worked for or directly with" the United States in Iraq.

Hundreds of Iraqis have worked as translators and staff for the U.S. military and diplomatic corps. Some human rights organizations and lawmakers say insurgents have targeted those Iraqis and their families for death, forcing many to flee to Syria and Jordan, where life is equally perilous.

More than 4 million Iraqis have been displaced and the number is growing by 60,000 a month, U.S. officials estimate. Yet the United States has allowed fewer than 1,000 of the 7,000 refugees who were approved for resettlement.

Kevin Whitelaw reports on the US Government's granting of 167 visas for former Iraqi and Afghan translators, now allowed US residency.

To read Kevin's report, visit: http://fe27.news.sp1.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20070905/ts_usnews/iraqitranslat...

As many as 2 million Iraqi refugees have fled the violence at home, but the Bush administration has been criticized for allowing very few of them into the United States.

Even Iraqis who had been working for the U.S. military as much-needed translators, and who then found their lives threatened for their work with the Americans, had been largely frozen out.

But for translators at least, the picture is finally beginning to change. In just the past two months, 167 visas have been issued to Iraqi and Afghan translators to come to the United States along with their families, according to a State Department spokesperson. These visas were issued under a new program approved by Congress in June that allows up to 500 visas to be issued this year and in 2008 to Afghan or Iraqi translators who worked for the U.S. military or a U.S. embassy. Family members are eligible to come along with them.