Few Syrian Christians Get Asylum in U.S., Despite Genocide Declaration

(WNS)–Two months after the Obama administration called out militant terror group Islamic State (ISIS) for committing genocide against Christians in Iraq and Syria, refugee data show those finding a safe haven in the United States are not the ones suffering the most persecution.

Last year, President Barack Obama set the goal of bringing 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States in fiscal year 2016. So far, the State Department is on track to fall well short of that number, with only about 2,700 successfully resettled. State Department figures show 499 Syrian refugees have resettled in America this month, but not a single one was a Christian or member of another religious minority group targeted for genocide, according to CNSNews reports.

“For me, that has got to change,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., at a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on May 26. “I mean that is unconscionable.”

Of the 2,705 Syrian refugees who came to the United States this fiscal year, 97 percent are Sunni Muslims. Only 12 identified with a form of Christianity, either Catholic, Greek Orthodox, or Protestant, along with 10 Yazidi refugees.

Tempers flared during the hearing as lawmakers noted the disproportionate numbers. Some compared the crisis in Iraq and Syria to Jewish persecution during the holocaust.

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