September 13, 2016bcnn1wp

Out of 10,800 Syrian Refugees Allowed Into U.S., Only 56 Are Christian

Four-year old Asra, a Christian refugee from Syria, stands in front of a Christmas tree at a refugee shelter in an evangelic church in Oberhausen, Germany, on December 22, 2015. When up to a million Syrian Christians have fled Syria, why has the U.S. accepted only 56? Elliott Abrams asks. (INA FASSBENDER/REUTERS)
Four-year old Asra, a Christian refugee from Syria, stands in front of a Christmas tree at a refugee shelter in an evangelic church in Oberhausen, Germany, on December 22, 2015. When up to a million Syrian Christians have fled Syria, why has the U.S. accepted only 56? Elliott Abrams asks. (INA FASSBENDER/REUTERS)

The headline for this column—The U.S. Bars Christian, Not Muslim, Refugees From Syria—will strike many readers as ridiculous.

But the numbers tell a different story: The United States has accepted 10,801 Syrian refugees, of whom 56 are Christian. Not 56 percent; 56 total, out of 10,801. That is to say, one-half of 1 percent.

The BBC says that 10 percent of all Syrians are Christian, which would mean 2.2 million Christians. It is quite obvious, and President Barack Obama and Secretary John Kerry have acknowledged it, that Middle Eastern Christians are an especially persecuted group.

So how is it that one-half of 1 percent of the Syrian refugees we’ve admitted are Christian, or 56, instead of about 1,000 out of 10,801—or far more, given that they certainly meet the legal definition?

The definition: someone who “is located outside of the United States; is of special humanitarian concern to the United States; demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.”

The BBC says that 10 percent of all Syrians are Christian, which would mean 2.2 million Christians. It is quite obvious, and President Barack Obama and Secretary John Kerry have acknowledged it, that Middle Eastern Christians are an especially persecuted group.

So how is it that one-half of 1 percent of the Syrian refugees we’ve admitted are Christian, or 56, instead of about 1,000 out of 10,801—or far more, given that they certainly meet the legal definition?

The definition: someone who “is located outside of the United States; is of special humanitarian concern to the United States; demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.”

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SOURCE:  
Newsweek