The State Department says that all of the refugees admitted to the U.S. from Syria since the November 13 Paris terror attacks have been Sunni Muslims.
CNS News reports State Department Refugee Processing Center data show that not a single Christian refugee or other religious minority from Syria has been admitted to the U.S. since Islamic terrorists attacked The City of Light.
In total 132 Syrian refugees — all Sunni Muslims — have been resettled in the U.S. since November 13. Broken down further, the majority of the 132 Syrian refugees have been male. CNS News reports that 72 of the Syrian refugees resettled in that timeframe have been male and 60 have been female.
As the outlet notes, 29.5 percent or 39 of the refugees are between the ages of 14 and 50. Children under the age of 14 make up 40 percent of the total — 30 of whom are male and 23 of whom are female.
The report about the demographic composition of the Syrian refugees to the U.S. comes as that Obama administration continues to pursue its plan to resettle at least 10,000 Syrian refugees in the U.S. during fiscal year 2016. The administration is moving forward despite vocal concerns offered by top officials and lawmakers about the government’s ability to vet the refugees.
The administration’s effort came under increased scrutiny following the Paris attacks. At least two of the terrorists gained access to Europe by posing as refugees, adding to fears that terrorists could use the refugee program as a means to infiltrate the U.S.
CNS News reports that since the beginning of FY 2016, which began in October, 98.8 percent of the refugees admitted from Syria have been Sunni Muslims, or 418 refugees. Just 1.2 percent or five refugees were Christians.
According to the report, men ages between the ages of 14 and 50 make up 26 percent of the total 423 Syrian refugees admitted this fiscal year to date, or 111 refugees. Further, 95 women in that 14 to 50 age range have been admitted as well as 108 males and 88 females under the age of 14. There have also been 11 male and 10 females over the age of 50 admitted.
The report notes that the trend reflected in the shorter time frame holds relatively true for the entirety of Syrian refugees admitted since the beginning of the the the Syrian civil war in March 2011. Since then the U.S. has admitted 2,296 Syrian refugees — 93 percent of who were Sunni Muslim (2,137) and just 2.3 percent of whom were Christians (53). Another 60 individuals were “Moslem” and 13 were Shia. Others included — as CNS reports — “eight Jehovah’s Witness, six Zoroastrians, three atheists, two Baha’i, one Yazidi, seven ‘no religion’ and six ‘other religion.’”