An international relief organization is accusing President Donald Trump of failing to do enough to protect religious minorities even as his administration hosts a major gathering aimed at promoting religious freedom.
The Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom began Tuesday morning, and it is expected to draw hundreds of religious and government leaders to Washington for three days.
According to the State Department, the forum will “identify concrete ways to combat religious persecution and discrimination, and ensure greater respect for freedom of religion or belief.”Nazanin Ash, vice president of global policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee, called the goals of the conference “fatally undermined” by the Trump administration’s refugee admissions policies.
In an analysis released Monday, the IRC detailed the dramatic fall in the number of refugees fleeing religious persecution who resettled in the United States under Trump.
For instance, the number of Iranian Christians resettled in the United States so far in fiscal 2019 is 66, a 97 percent drop from the 2,086 resettled in fiscal 2016 — the final year Barack Obama was president. Some 58 Iraqi Christians have been given such protection so far this fiscal year, compared to 1,525 in fiscal 2016.
Iraqi and Syrian Yazidis have also seen major drops in their resettlement numbers, according to the analysis — a total of 14 have been resettled so far this fiscal year, compared to 417 in fiscal 2016.
The report also found that one-fourth of the world’s governments have tightened their restrictions on religion since 2016, contributing to the global refugee crisis.
The United States, IRC researchers argue, has weakened its standing as a humanitarian beacon by slashing its refugee resettlement programs, even as it claims to support religious liberty.
“The Trump administration cannot cheer on the world to protect religious minorities in one breath, while substantively cutting its own protections for these groups in the next,” Ash said.
Trump has long been reluctant to admit refugees into the United States, arguing that the resettlement program can be exploited by terrorists. He has lowered the cap on the number of refugees the U.S. is willing to admit to a historic low of 30,000 for fiscal 2019, and even then, that number may not be met because his administration has imposed new bureaucratic hurdles in the process.
In response, a State Department spokesperson said the administration is committed to protecting the religious freedoms of all people, regardless of their country of origin.
"The United States will continue to settle the most vulnerable refugees, including those who have fled religious persecution, while prioritizing the safety and security of the American people," the spokesperson said.
The IRC report noted that the administration is once again in the process of debating what next fiscal year’s refugee cap should be.
“During a time when the Administration considers its FY2020 refugee admissions level, it must also consider its commitment to religious minorities,” the report read. “No religious group has been spared by these cuts.”
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine