ishtartv.com - townhall.com
Lauretta Brown, Sep 21, 2017
The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted Tuesday to advance a bill,
passed by the House in June, that attempts to ensure that humanitarian
aid is directed at those minorities, including Christians, most affected
by the genocide being waged by ISIS.
The bill
clarifies that it is U.S. policy to” ensure that humanitarian,
stabilization, and recovery assistance for nationals and residents of
Iraq or Syria, and of communities from those countries, is directed
toward ethnic and minority individuals and communities with the greatest
need, including those individuals and communities that are at risk of
persecution or war crimes.”
It instructs the State Department to
identify “threats of persecution, genocide, crimes against humanity, and
war crimes against members of Iraqi or Syrian religious or ethnic
groups that are minorities in Iraq or in Syria.”
The State
Department is also instructed to identify the “humanitarian,
stabilization, and recovery needs” of the persecuted minorities and
“entities, including faith-based entities, that are providing such
assistance and the extent of U.S. assistance to or through such
entities.”
“The vote from this morning is an important step toward providing relief for those victims of the genocide committed by ISIS,” said Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) who introduced the bill in the House.
“The
world’s greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II is unfolding
now in the Middle East...many of the region’s indigenous communities now
face extinction...But their fate is not inevitable. The United States
can avert this unfolding tragedy,” Smith told a House subcommittee when he was pushing for the bill’s passage.
The
new legislation will help facilitate that government funding be
provided to religious organizations on the ground that can directly aid
minorities in Iraq and Syria.
“It is so essential to work with
those who are on the ground that know exactly where the dollars should
go,” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), a co-sponsor of the original bill, said in
June.
Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson testified in May of
last year on the difficulty that Christians and other minorities
persecuted by ISIS face in seeking official aid.
“Those who face genocide are a tiny fraction of the population,” Anderson said in a testimony
before Congress. “They often must avoid official refugee camps because
they are targeted for violence there by extremists. As a result, these
minorities often do not get ‘official’ aid. This will continue to be the
reality unless specific action is taken to bring the aid to where these
minorities are forced to reside by continuing violence.”
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