WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - The United States is admitting more Iraqi refugees than before, but Iraq should step up its efforts to encourage its citizens living abroad to come home, the senior U.S. coordinator for Iraqi refugee issues said on Tuesday. Ambassador James Foley said the United States, which has been criticized for its slow pace in admitting Iraqi refugees, was confident it would meet a goal of admitting 12,000 by the end of September. While the number of people fleeing Iraq has slowed since last fall, partly because of security improvements, there has not been a significant pattern of refugees returning, Foley told a news briefing. He said Iraq had taken only modest steps to encourage returnees and and called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's recent announcement that $195 million would be spent to promote refugee returns as "commendable" but "only the tip of the iceberg." More than 2 million Iraqis have fled their homeland since the U.S. invasion in March 2003, going to Syria, Jordan and other countries. Foley said there were up to 2.5 million internally displaced people in Iraq as well. So far 4,742 Iraqi refugees have been admitted to the United States in the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Meeting the goal of 12,000 will mean letting in an average of 1,800 refugees a month from now through September, Foley said. "This is a tall order, it's a tough hurdle, but we are determined to succeed, and increasingly confident that we can succeed." In fiscal 2007, the United States admitted 1,608 Iraqi refugees, up from 202 the previous year. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recently found that 70 percent of returnees to Iraq had not been able to resettle in their own homes, Foley said. "It's fairly clear the government was not prepared to provide returnees with housing, with essential services." Maliki's pledge of $195 million, made last week at a conference in Sweden, "is a small step in a process that will require substantial effort, resources and commitment on behalf of the Iraqi government," he said. (Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Chris Wilson)
A refugee farmer repairs his tractor in a makeshift tent after his home was destroyed in Puyang town of earthquake-hit Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province June 3, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA) ...
Refugees & displacement
