Tragically, present policy does not take into account the uniquely precarious situation of displaced Christians. Instead of receiving priority treatment, Christians are profoundly disadvantaged. For instance, the State Department has accepted refugees primarily from lists prepared by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees, which oversees the large camps to which refugees have flocked, and where they are registered. Yet endangered Christians do not dare enter those camps.<\/p>\n
George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in the Telegraph in Britain in September that a similar protocol in the U.K. \u201cinadvertently discriminates against the very Christian communities most victimised by the inhuman butchers of the so-called Islamic State. Christians are not to be found in the UN camps, because they have been attacked and targeted by Islamists and driven from them.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
U.S. missteps and missed opportunities in the region contributed to the crises that disproportionately affected Christians. America\u2019s policy should immediately be amended to include these refugees at the top of the list. Opening America\u2019s doors to them first is the right thing to do.<\/p>\n