JANUARY 2010

Photos by David ReeD
boiling over
Angry crowd confronts government official
From left:
A large group
demanded answers
about U.S. policy
Alaa and Lawrence
Mansour question
the State Department
representative
By Weam Namou
When Michael Corbin, a
U.S. State Department
official, told a crowd of
about 300 in his opening remarks
that this was his “first but not last”
visit to Michigan, he evidently didn’t
know what he was in for.
What started out as a congenial forum
on December 10 at Bella Banquet
Hall in Warren quickly turned hostile
as many audience members showed
their outrage at U.S. government policies
concerning Christian Iraqis.
“We don’t care about the Iraqi
government, oil and the elections!”
several men shouted angrily. “We
care for you to solve our problems!”
These statements were accompanied
by a great deal of wailing from
a woman who has been separated for
years from a son who she said is stuck
in Syria.
“I’m dying!” the woman cried.
“Our children are dying!”
Despite efforts by audience members,
including nuns, to defuse the
situation, the scene grew more chaotic.
Accusations for not doing enough
to help the Chaldean refugees were
thrown at the Church and the Chaldean
Federation of America (CFA),
which hosted the forum along with
the Chaldean American Chamber of
Commerce and the Chaldean Assyrian
Syriac Council of America.
“These are terrible humanitarian
issues,” said Joseph Kassab, executive
director of the CFA, as he tried
to calm everyone down and resume
with the forum.
Once composed, the audience
basically took over the event by addressing
issues that were more important
to them than politics. They conveyed
their problems and demanded
answers. Some had loved ones “stuck”
in Syria, unable to come to America.
Others were denied political asylum
Michael Corbin tries to deflect an angry
audience
several times. The new refugees are
unable to financially support themselves,
they said.
“I’m under an Order of Deportation,”
one man said. “If I go back to Iraq,
that’s an automatic bullet in the head.”
“According to U.S. law, given
to the current conditions there, a
refugee cannot be returned to Iraq,”
Corbin responded.
Kassab told Corbin that the CFA
has submitted 186 deportation cases
to Homeland Security for review.
Saying he was unaware of the increased
rejection rate for refugees,
Corbin said he will work on reducing
it by speaking about the issue
in Washington and by making U.S.
judges have full background knowledge
of the situation concerning
Christian Iraqis.
“As for the challenges facing Iraqi
refugees who are new into the U.S.,
I promise that we are looking into
that,” Corbin said.
Corbin serves under Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton and
was appointed by President Barack
Obama to the position of Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State in the Bureau
of Near Eastern Affairs, where he has
served since July 2009. He focuses on
issues concerning the ethnic and religious
minority communities in Iraq.
“How can the U.S. protect Christian
Iraqis from harm?” one man asked.
“Iraq is a sovereign country,”
Corbin said. “We can work very hard
to protect the minorities in Iraq and
to help the Iraqi refugees in Syria and
Jordan, but we can’t guarantee the
desired outcome.”
A Catholic Lebanese priest who
stated that, “The U.S. didn’t do its
job,” reminded Corbin that under
Saddam’s regime Christians were
protected and treated extremely
well. Today, some Iraqi women have
had to turn to prostitution.
“Why not pass a bill?” the priest
proposed. “Something more aggressive
must happen.”
“There is no bill that can do that,
but we have a strong commitment to
work on individual situations so that
families can be whole,” said Corbin.
“Not all refugees will be resettled.
That’s just the fact.”
Betsy Nasouri, vice president
of For Victims of War and Poverty,
complained that there are three issues
that need to be addressed immediately.
First, she said, is that more should
be done to prevent judges from denying
refugees political asylum. Second,
Homeland Security needs to know
that Christian Middle Easterners are
peaceful people and therefore should
not take years doing background
checks. Third, she said, more financial
assistance is needed for refugees.
“You took over Iraq — liberated
Iraq or whatever you want to call it
— and took Iraq’s oil,” said Nasouri.
“At least give some of the money to
the Iraqis here who can barely find
enough to eat. It’s your responsibility
to help them.”
People clapped and cheered
Nasouri’s comments and afterwards
lodged more criticism and questions
towards Corbin — until the clock
ticked 9:30 p.m. and he anxiously hurried
off the stage. His absence didn’t
put an end to peoples’ rage. Accusations
continued against the CFA and
the Church, despite the nuns’ verbal
and strong disapproval.
28 CHALDEAN NEWS JANUARY 2010