The United States’ federal government has imported a record number of Syrian refugees in June – more than 2,300 – of whom 99 percent are Sunni Muslim and just eight identify as Christian.
The record number admitted to the country last month brings the total number of Syrian refugees accepted during the fiscal year above the 5,000 mark and puts the government on a trajectory to surpass President Barack Obama’s stated goal of 10,000 refugees by the end of September, reports the Washington Times.
According to the report:
Of those accepted in June, more than 99 percent are Sunni Muslims. Just eight identified themselves as Christian, eight identified as a non-Sunni form of Islam, and one reported having no religious affiliation. Those numbers have drawn criticism because the percentage of Sunni Muslims is far greater than that of the Syrian population as a whole, which is about 75 percent Sunni.
“This is social engineering, not humanitarian relief,” writes Robert Spencer at JihadWatch.com. “Syria was 10% Christian before the war. The Christians have been targeted and persecuted by several jihad groups. The refugees, then, should be at least 10% Christian and probably more than that.”
The influx of refugees and the speed with which they are processed to enter the country causing great concern, even though Obama has trie to dismiss those fears.
The U.S. outsources the selection of refugees to the United Nations, which relies on local Muslims to process and screen applicants for U.S. visas.
“It should be of great concern that these refugees are being processed so rapidly now,” says Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Center for Immigration Studies.“It is no easier for the U.S. government to vet these people now than it was when FBI Director [James B.] Comey made his statement that it can’t be done,” she adds.
“What has changed is there is now enormous pressure on the officers who are reviewing these cases to do it quickly. And that never ends well.”
U.S. officials say all refugees are screened prior to entering the country, and they suggest the prior Iraqi refugee program was implemented without problems.
The Justice Department, however, announced earlier this year that terror-related charges were being brought against two Iraqi refugees, one who had lived in Syria just prior to being admitted to the U.S.
“This is being done really based on hope more than knowledge,” Vaughan says.
Spencer continues:
[T]here is simply no way to vet these refugees and screen out jihad terrorists. The Islamic State has instructed its operatives on how to blend in and evade detection. Also, since the Obama administration doesn’t even acknowledge that there is Islamic jihad terrorism, how can it vet refugees and find Islamic jihad terrorists? San Bernardino jihad mass murderer Tashfeen Malik passed five separate background checks from five different government agencies.
Idaho, Michigan, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee have all seen increases in the number of refugees from the Syria.
According to the Times, 167 U.S. communities have been affected, though not Washington, D.C., Delaware, Vermont, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Montana, Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska, North Dakota, or South Dakota.