|
From the President’s Desk A Farewell to Ellen Sauerbrey At the end of December Ellen Sauerbrey completed her two years of service as assistant secretary of state for Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). President Bush had named her as a recess appointee while Congress was out of session, meaning that her term was limited. LIRS and other pro-refugee agencies urged the Senate to confirm her so that she could serve the remaining year of the administration, but the Senate adjourned at the end of 2007 without taking action. Succeeding Sauerbrey is Acting Assistant Secretary of State Samuel Witten, a lawyer with previous experience as the State Department’s deputy legal adviser. Sauerbrey was virtually unknown in pro-refugee circles when President Bush put her name forward in 2005. A schoolteacher by profession, she had served many years in the Maryland legislature. She twice ran for governor of Maryland, losing very narrowly the first time. Her nomination to head PRM was controversial both because of her lack of prior experience in the refugee field and because of her strong right-to-life positions on population and reproductive health issues. It became more controversial because of the disputes between President Bush and the Senate over recess appointments. Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey quickly proved herself and won over those in the pro-refugee community who were skeptical about her. She is hardworking, a quick learner, pleasant and professional. She knows politics and how to use the levers of power to do good. She has a warm and big heart and a depth of compassion for refugees—in her words, “some of the world’s most desperate people.” In her “signing off” memo, Sauerbrey said that she was most proud of the progress made in resolving the issue of material support that unreasonably blocked the eligibility for admission to the United States of thousands of Burmese refugees in Thailand and opened the way for their resettlement; overcoming 17 years of stalemate to produce a durable solution for Bhutanese refugees; and in making education of Iraqi children a top UNHCR and U.S. government priority. Sauerbrey continued and strengthened U.S. support for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, both financially and politically. On the resettlement side, she advanced the cause of restoring U.S. refugee admissions to pre-September 11 levels by working to try to open resettlement opportunities for larger groups of refugees, notably those from Burma, Bhutan and Iraq. In two major areas, Sauerbrey’s efforts were frustrated. On the material support issue, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security have still not been willing to facilitate a broad-based and efficient remedy that would no longer tar innocent victims of persecution—whether refugees or asylum seekers—with the labels of “terrorist” or “material supporter of terrorism” and thereby prevent the United States from offering them protection. Some waivers were granted, notably for many Burmese, but the waiver process is cumbersome and leaves out many deserving people in need of humanitarian help. And on the Iraqi refugees—the world’s largest and fastest-growing group of forcibly displaced persons—despite all efforts the U.S. response remains shamefully small. U.S. humanitarian support for UNHCR programs for Iraqis has been large compared with other donors but still inadequate when compared with the pressing needs and with our nation’s responsibility for the humanitarian consequences of our military engagement in Iraq. On the resettlement side, the miniscule number of Iraqis resettled—1,608 in fiscal year 2007—speaks for itself. Our nation is fearful to take in even those Iraqis who have been persecuted because they supported the American forces. Mr. Witten and his State Department colleagues will be continuing to grapple with these challenges. Farewell to Ellen Sauerbrey! I am deeply thankful for her service and leadership, for her compassion, and for her hard work in advancing the cause of refugee protection.
|
|
