[Christian Science Monitor] Patrik Jonsson - The State Department confirmed Tuesday that as many as 1,350 Iraqi Palestinians will be resettled in the U.S., mostly in southern California, starting this fall - the largest-ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees into the U.S. Palestinians were treated well under Saddam Hussein but their presence was resented by many Iraqis. After Hussein was deposed in 2003, many Palestinians were driven out of their homes and now live in camps along the Syrian and Jordanian border. The U.S., which takes in about 80,000 refugees annually, hopes to bring 17,000 Iraqi refugees this year. While the U.S. generally doesn't accept Palestinians, Todd Pierce, a spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, says that the Iraqi population of Palestinians falls under a different category from those in Gaza and the West Bank.
2009-07-09 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive