Why Is the US Accepting More Muslim Refugees than Christians?
A new report shows the United States accepted more Muslim refugees in 2016 than any year since 2002.
The Pew Research Center says the U.S. has received 28,957 Muslim refugees, or 46 percent of the 63,000 total number of refugees it took in since Oct. 1, 2015.
In comparison, the U.S. accepted 27,556 Christian refugees in the same period, 44 percent of the total number. The greatest number of refugees came from Syria and Somalia, with 8,511 and 7,234 respectively.
So, why is the United States accepting more Muslim refugees, especially at time when the country has officially recognized that ISIS is committing genocide against Christian groups in Syria and Iraq?
"We're very concerned about Christian refugees from Syria and we've asked alot of questions," said Matthew Soerens, U.S. director of Church Mobilization for World Relief, an evangelical humanitarian organization.
Soerens told CBN News that he doesn't believe there's an anti-Christian bias in the U.S. refugee policy. He said several dynamics explain the current outflow of Muslim refugees.
In Syria, Muslims make up 87 percent of the population and Christians constitute just 10 percent. Soerens says the Syrian Muslim refugees entering the U.S. this year were designated as refugees three to five years ago when the Shia Muslim Assad regime began attacking Sunni Muslims.
"They didn't target Christians, they targeted Muslims," Soerens explained.
Soerens noted that many Syrian Christian refugees have fled to Lebanon. In addition, many Syrian Christians are more affluent and have been able to flee the country using tourist visas he said.
In Somalia, Christians also make up just a minority of the population. Soerens said the main persecution has been Muslims attacking Muslims.
The United Nations will host a high level summit to address the global refugee crisis on Sept. 19.
In late 2014, it reported that nearly 60 million people had been forcibly displaced worldwide, compared to 37 million a decade ago. It called the war in Syria "the world's single largest driver of displacement."
