Obama Criticizes Denmark

Barack Obama is on record criticizing Denmark — among other countries — for failing to take in its share of Iraqi refugees. The relevant statement is in a position paper (pdf format) entitled “Barack Obama: Turning the Page in Iraq” (page 4):

Fulfill America’s Obligation to Accept Refugees: The State Department pledged to allow 7,000 Iraqi refugees into America, but has only let 190 into the United States. Obama would expedite the Department of Homeland Security’s review of Iraqi asylum applicants. Obama also would appeal to the Coalition’s original partners to expand their refugee quotas. Coalition partners such as Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Japan have done woefully little to meet the refugee crisis, and must be encouraged to do more. Arab governments, especially American allies such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, should also be enlisted.

This is not news — the document was published in 2007 — but it surfaced today in the Swedish press. That was enough to make the ever-alert Danes sit up and take notice, and it stirred discussion which eventually spread to English-language sites. As Islam in Europe described it:

In his “Turning the Page in Iraq” speech more than a year ago, Barack Obama mentioned that he expects the coalition partners to take in more refugees:

It’s also time to go to our friends and allies — and all the members of our original coalition in Iraq — to find homes for the many Iraqis who are in desperate need of asylum.

And an article in The Copenhagen Post had this to say:

Obama: Denmark has done ‘little’ for Iraqi refugees
Barack Obama said that several of the Iraq War’s coalition forces have not given enough Iraqi refugees asylum
President-elect Barack Obama criticised several of the Iraq War’s coalition force nations for not taking in enough refugees from the chaos-ridden country.
On his website, Obama outlines the goals of his up-coming presidency, including a section entitled ‘Fulfill America’s Obligation to Accept Refugees’. Here he writes that ‘coalition partners such as Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Japan have done woefully little to meet the refugee crisis and must be encouraged to do more’.
But the US State Department itself was not spared of the president-elect’s criticism. He pointed out that only 190 Iraqi refugees have been accepted by the US since the war’s start, in contrast to the 7,000 it originally promised to take in.

Read the full article at Gates of Vienna