Timeline of Major Events in the Iraqi Refugee Crisis and The List Project
March 2003 - George W. Bush launches the invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom).
January 2005 - Kirk Johnson travels to Iraq to work as an information and public affairs officer for USAID.
September
2005 - Mr. Johnson transfers to Falluja as USAID's first
coordinator for reconstruction in the city. Ellen R.
Sauerbrey is
nominated to head the State Department's nearly $1 billion per year
refugee program but
faces stiff opposition in Congress, where her lack of experience
or expertise in the area is questioned. (Photo: Left, Ellen Sauerbrey at
confirmation hearing.
Source: WashingtonPost.com)
January 2006 - While on vacation from Falluja, Kirk Johnson survives a near-death experience prompted by PTSD. He returns to the US to begin healing. Ms. Sauerbrey is appointed during a Congressional recess.
October 2006 - Y, an Iraqi colleague of Mr. Johnson's at USAID, receives a death threat in the form of a severed dog's head after being identified by a militia as assisting the United States. After receiving no support to speak of from the US Government, Y flees to the UAE and writes to Mr. Johnson for help. (Photo: Right, the note accompanying Y's death threat.)
December 2006 - The Iraq Study Group Report is released, advising that 'The number of refugees and internally displaced persons' is increasing dramatically. If this situation is not addressed, Iraq and the region could be further destabilized, and the humanitarian suffering could be severe. Funding for international relief efforts is insufficient, and should be increased.' Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson writes an op-ed in the Lost Angeles Times on behalf of Y. Within days, other Iraqis who had worked with Mr. Johnson begin writing to seek his help, sharing their stories. He begins to tabulate a list.
January 2007 - George W. Bush announces plans to raise the number of US troops in Iraq by 30,000 over the course of 6 months. By this time, approximately 2 million Iraqis are already refugees in neighboring countries. Another 1.7 are internally displaced. Ms. Sauerbrey suggests that as many as 20,000 could be admitted to the United States in fiscal year 2007.
February
2007 - Mr. Johnson brings his list to the State Department in
Washington for the first time, passing them the names of nearly
every Iraqi who had worked with him at USAID in 2005 and who were
now refugees. The State Department announces plans to allow 7,000
(not 20,000) Iraqi Refugees into the U.S. in fiscal year 2007 and
creates an
Iraq Refugee Inter-agency Taskforce, headed by Under-Secretary
of
State. She is charged with cutting through bureaucratic inertia
and saving the lives of more Iraqis. (Photo, left:
Under-Secretary of State Paula Dorbiansky
addresses Iraqi refugee concerns. Source:
America.gov)
March 2007 - The New Yorker's George Packer publishes 'Betrayed', a powerful story that exposes how dire the situation is for Iraqis who worked for the US. The List is featured in that piece. The List is also mentioned in a congressional hearing on the issue. (Photo, right: From left to right - George Packer, Ellen Sauerbrey, Kirk Johnson. Source: C-Span.org)
April 2007 -
LLP
teams up with The List Project, assuming the legal services caseload
for all of the Iraqis on the List who are outside Iraq's
borders.
Chris Nugent heads up Holland & Knight's team of lawyers who
begin to contribute thousands of hours of pro bono counsel to Iraqis
on the List. Mr. Johnson writes a
New York Times op-ed calling attention to the material support bar
which denies US entry to endangered Iraqis because they paid ransoms
to insurgents to free imprisoned family members. Ms. Sauerbrey
off-handedly suggests that
the US could accept as many as 25,000 Iraqi refugees within the
year. Hope ignites fleetingly within the refugee community before
the comment is downplayed by the State Department.
May 2007 - The List grows to 300+ names.
June 2007 -
LLP
joins The List Project, assuming the legal services caseload for the
Iraqis on the List who are still trapped inside Iraq's
borders.
Eric Blinderman, a former Counsel to the Coalition Provisional
Authority and Regime Crimes Liaison Office in Iraq, heads up
Proskauer's pro bono commitment. The List Project is
formally launched on June 20th, World Refugee Day.
Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Joe Biden
(D-DL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI)
and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) introduce the 'Refugee
Crisis in Iraq Act', which attempts to prod the resettlement
bureaucracies in the absence of any demonstrable commitment from
President Bush.
July 2007 - ABC World News airs a segment on TLP in which Ms. Sauerbrey pleads ignorance of the List, despite Mr. Johnson's numerous communications with her bureau. Meanwhile, Sweden, an opponent of the invasion of Iraq and not a member of the US-led coalition, takes in over 18,000 Iraqi refugees, making it the world's leader in providing a safe-haven to Iraqis. Coalition member Denmark airlifts 370 Iraqis who assisted the Danish civil and military forces in Iraq. Total number of Iraqi refugees accepted by the United States from the beginning of fiscal year 2007 to the end of July: 133 (Photo: A Danish flight arrives with Iraqi allies as part of their secret airlift operation. Source: The BBC/AP)
August 2007 - Y, the first member of the List (and the subject of the LAT op-ed) is resettled with his wife to the US to live with Mr. Johnson's family in Illinois. Upwardly Global, an NGO committed to helping refugees find meaningful employment in the U.S., partners with TLP to assist Iraqis on the List.
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September 2007 -
After a surge in admissions during the final two months of fiscal
year 2007, the US ultimately admits just 1,608 Iraqi refugees by
month's end, woefully short of its promised 7,000. In response, the
State Department vows to admit 12,000 Iraqi refugees in fiscal year
2008. On September
19th,
the Administration appoints coordinators at the Departments of State
and Homeland Security, Ambassador James B. Foley and
immigration law expert Lori Scialabba, to replace the Iraq Refugee
Inter-agency Task Force created seven months earlier. Their
assignment - to speed up the process of resettling Iraqi refugees -
is precisely the same as their predecessor's. The bureaucratic
circle begins anew. The Kennedy-Gordon legislation on Iraqi
refugees passes the Senate with strong bipartisan support, but the
White House remains silent on the topic. (Photos: Left - Ambassador
James Foley; Right - Lori Scialabba. Source:
America.gov)
December 2007 - The List hits 700. Ms. Sauerbrey announces her resignation on December 21.
January 2008 - President Bush signs the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act into law. Mr. Johnson travels to Jordan to meet with members of the List who are struggling to survive in the face of bureaucratic delays, dwindling financial resources, and expired visas.
February 2008 - The List grows to 900. George Packer's 'Betrayed' debuts as a play at Culture Project in downtown Manhattan to rave reviews. President Bush signs the Defense Authorization Act, which includes bipartisan provisions sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Carl Levin (D-MI), and Sam Brownback (R-KS) to ease the asylum application process for Iraqi allies. US reports 1,324 Iraqi refugee admissions for first four months of fiscal year 2008.
March 2008 - Britain, the second-largest member of the coalition forces after the United States, announces its plan to begin a major airlift of its Iraqi employees. 100 British-affiliated Iraqis will be airlifted every two weeks in RAF transport planes to the UK where they will be processed in safety. (Photo, right: An Iraqi translator, hiding his own identity, assists a British soldier. Source: BBC.com)
April 2008 - The List Project formally launches
a new partnership with law firm
LLP to accommodate ever-growing List. The List approaches
nearly 1000 names.
May 2008: 60 Minutes profiles the List Project.
June 2008: President Bush signed into law that the special immigrant visa program would increase to allow 5000 Iraqis into the U.S. each year for the next five years. The increase in the special visa program falls under the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act, which became law in January 2008.
July 2008: International Crisis Group and Amnesty International release reports highlighting the struggles faced by Iraqi refugees and criticizing the international response, especially the response of the U.S.
August 2008: PBS presents a documentary series on Wide Angle, entitled “Iraqi Exodus”; which documents the struggles faced by Iraqi refugees in the region.
September 2008: The U.S. announces that it surpassed its goal of admitting 12000 Iraqi refugees for fiscal year 2008 and that it would aim to admit 17000 Iraqi refugees in fiscal year 2009. Unfortunately, only 600 Iraqi Allies were processed through the special immigrant visa program, and news emerged that new Iraqi applicants faced up to a year wait before the process would begin.
November 2008: Senator Barack Obama was elected as the forty-forth President. President-elect Obama reiterates remarks made on the campaign trail that the U.S. has a moral responsibility to help with the Iraqi refugee crisis.
December 2008: The Iraqi Parliament adopts the Status of Forces Agreement in Iraq (SOFA), which specifies a timetable for US Military withdrawal by 2011. Nearly 300 Iraqis from the List have made it to America by this point, although the List has grown to nearly 2,000 names.
January 2009: George Packer's play "Betrayed" runs for one night in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center in an event for Refugees International. The Center for American Progress releases its plan, "Operation Safe Haven Iraq 2009," which draws from its cooperation with the List Project. Its principal recommendation calls for a Presidential-ordered airlift of U.S.-affiliated Iraqis to a military base such as Guam for expedited processing. The List Project announces the development of a coalition letter to President Obama, backing the recommendations in the CAP plan and calling for a "Guam Option."