The Foreign Service Journal, June 2007

J UN E 2 0 0 7 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 59 “Betrayed,”andeditorials in the LosAngeles Times , as well as vocal criticism of the administration’s current Iraqi refugee pol- icy from Amb. Richard Holbrooke and others. In April, AFSA raised the issue of the safety and status of Iraqi staff with the director general, anddiscussions are continuing. AFSA’s statutorymandate does not extend to represent- ing or providing assis- tance toForeignService Nationals, but AFSA recognizes thevitalwork done by these brave individuals insupportof the ForeignService. “We are keenly aware of ourmembers’ passionate argument that Iraqi FSNs working for the mission often face dire life-and-death decisions and thereforedeserve special treatment fromthe U. S. government,” says AFSA State Vice President Steve Kashkett. Inaddition to stressing tomanagement the need for passage of legislation to facil- itate refugee processing for former Iraqi FSNs who fled Iraq and cannot return, AFSAhas alsourged thatEmbassyBaghdad adopt a more flexible approach to billet- ing trusted FSNs inside the International Zone, and that the StateDepartment devel- op a forward-leaning policy for encourag- ing U.S. embassies and consulates in other countries to give favorable consider- ation to hiring qualified Iraqi FSNs who have been forced to flee. Less than1,300 Iraqi refugees havebeen resettled in theU.S. since2001, but theneed for resettlement ofmore refugees is grow- ingmore urgent and Iraqis withU.S. gov- ernment ties are in a special category. The StateDepartment’s Bureauof Population, Refugees andMigration—responsible for the U.S. Refugee Program—announced in February that the U.S. will be increas- ing thenumberof Iraqi refugeesbeing reset- tled in 2007 to approximately 7,000, pri- marily Iraqiswhohave fled toTurkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt andLebanon. However, the Washington Post reported onMay 14 that only one Iraqi refugee was resettled in the U.S. in April. There is now, in fact, a program for embassy referrals of cases involving Iraqis with U.S. government ties to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and it is described in detail in the Feb. 8, 2007, unclassified cable, State 16383. Because this cablewasnotwidelydis- tributed, AFSA would like to bring it to the attention of concerned Foreign Service mem- bers. State 16383 spells out theprocess for refer- ringanIraqi refugee case toUSRAP. Whilemost Iraqi refugee cases are referred by the United Nations High Commissioner forRefugees to theUSRAP, a limited number of cases involving indi- vidualswithU.S. government ties can also be referred by U.S. embassies. The key requirements for a referral are that therebe compellinghumanitarianrea- sons and that the applicant has suffered, or fears, serious harm in Iraq. Iraqis with a U.S. government connection canmeet the first requirement by virtue of that connec- tion. Cases can be referred both for Iraqis whohave already fled Iraq and those plan- ning to flee immediately. At this point, referrals are limited to cases about which a direct-hire employee has significant knowledge. The point of contact is the refugee coordinator at post. Referral of a casewill give the applicant access to an interview with a Department of HomelandSecurityofficer, but doesnot guaranteeapproval. Atthistime,theUSRAP doesnot process cases inside Iraq, so the in- dividuals must be processed in another country. Damascus and Amman are cur- rently the twocities allowing thebest access for processing. Processing can take four to six months. Refugees accepted for admis- sion to theU.S. are givenpermanent status and assistance with relocation in the U.S. Questionsmay be directed to the PRM Near East/South Asia Program Office at (202) 663-1050or theOverseas Processing Section at (202) 663-1051. o A F S A N E W S Iraqi Refugees • Continued from page 56 USAID Changes at the Top USAID Administrator Randall Tobias resigned on April 27, citing personal reasons. On May 7, President Bush announced his intention to nominate State Department Under Secretary for Management Henrietta Fore to be administrator for USAID and director of foreign assistance, the two posts held by Tobias. She was named acting administrator of USAID and acting director of foreign assistance on May 7, and is serving in those posi- tions concurrently with her State Department position as under secre- tary for management. In the days immediately following the Tobias resignation, USAID Deputy Administrator James Kunder served as acting administrator. During his first day in that position, he requested a meeting with AFSA, which was held on May 9. AFSA and Kunder had a thorough discussion of many issues important to AFSA members, includ- ing overseas comparability pay, the USAID operating budget, staffing, diversity and organizational changes. AFSA also discussed the issue of the delay in Senior Foreign Service promo- tions for USAID candidates with Mr. Kunder. As the pay-for-performance system has been implemented at the foreign affairs agencies for Senior Foreign Service employees, USAID has been slow to process promotions. Senior USAID employees identified for promotion in September 2006 were still not approved by mid-May 2007. Mr. Kunder said that he too was con- cerned with the delay and had con- tacted the Senate staff in charge of scheduling the Senior Foreign Service promotion nominations for Senate approval and found them receptive to expediting the process. AFSA looks forward to working with Ms. Fore in her new position, and to continuing work with Mr. Kunder, who has moved back to his position as deputy administrator. AFSA NEWS BRIEFS State 16383 spells out the process for referring an Iraqi refugee case to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.