Since 2015 there has been a nearly 90% reduction in the number of Christian refugees being resettled to the United States from countries where churches face the greatest persecution. This is according to a new report published by Open Doors USA (a watchdog group that monitors the persecution of Christians) and World Relief (a refugee resettlement agency).
Closed Doors, the title of the 16-page report, is critical of policies that have either drastically reduced refugee resettlement to the USA or made it increasingly difficult for persecuted individuals and families to seek asylum.
World Relief Vice President of Advocacy and Policy, Jenny Yang, said: ‘There have been many recent changes regarding refugee resettlement and asylum law that has effectively shut the door on many of the refugees from being able to access protection in the United States of America. As organisations that are working to help those that are fleeing religious persecution, particularly Christians, we feel it is of the utmost importance that the … US keeps its doors open.’
The report includes testimonies from persecuted Christians around the world, as well as data comparing the numbers of refugees resettled during the final years of the Obama administration to the drastically decreased numbers resettled under President Donald Trump.
The report found that 18,462 Christians – from countries listed on Open Doors USA’s influential annual list of 50 worst countries where Christians face persecution – were resettled to the US in 2015. In 2016, 17,122 Christians from those countries were resettled.
By comparison, only 946 Christians from countries on the Open Doors World Watch List were resettled in the first half of the fiscal year 2020. The report estimates that if projections remain steady, only 1,897 Christians from those 50 countries will be resettled by the end of the fiscal year 2020, which represents a reduction of 89.7% from 2015.
