The claim that Obama did not let in Christian refugees is a lie.
Because, as usual, the situation is
more complicated then people understand it to be.
Refugees that were let in came through the UN refugee camps. They weren't selected on the basis of religion, but from among those who were registered as refugees at the camps. Very few Christians registered, for several different reasons. One being they were afraid of persecution or violence from the Muslims and they were hesitant to register because that might open them to increased persecution.. The other being they had options that the Muslims didn't.
This article has a reasonable explanation:
Trump’s claim that it is ‘very tough’ for Christian Syrians to get to the United States
First - actual numbers from two biggest sources of refugees lately, who register with the UN:
Syrian Refugees (where Christians make up less then 1% of the refugees, but 5% of the population)
Muslim Sunni: 15,134
Muslim Shiite: 29
Christian: 125*
Total: 15,479
But then look at Iraqi refugees (where Christians are less than 1% of the overall population but 15% of the refugees)
Muslim Sunni: 5,106
Muslim Shiite: 3,342
Christian: 1,502*
Total: 9,950
So did the Obama Administration deliberately select Muslims over Christians? If so, then why didn't they with Iraq? So that argument is bogus, but clearly something is going on with Syrian Christians.
According to the article:
The simple fact is that the reason for the disparity is unclear, though there are a number of theories. Nina Shea, who heads the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, says that Syrian Christians are “marginalized” in U.N. programs, especially in refugee camps. She says that many Christians are afraid to settle in camps because the camps are dominated by Muslims.
UNHCR data shows that only about 10 percent of refugees — 490,000 — are in camps, whereas nearly 4.4 million refugees are in urban and rural areas.
But Shea said that she has met with many Syrian Christian refugees who are “clamoring” to get out but can’t get processed.
“I don’t know how to explain this,” she said. “It raises a red flag of de facto discrimination.”
However, the article also points out that Syria is unlike Iraq in that Christians have opportunities other groups don't for safe haven:
Chris Boian, a UNHCR spokesman, that the agency did not know why there was such a disparity between the Christian makeup of Iraqi and Syrian refugees arriving in the United States, except that the agency does not discriminate. “We believe part of it is that Syria is not Iraq,” he said. “Many Syrian refugees may have the financial and social means to move without going through UNHCR.”
For instance, Lebanon has a relatively large Christian population and has historically been linked to Syria.
In October 2015, Shea directly asked then-U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres — now U.N. secretary general — during an appearance at the National Press Club about the dearth of Christian refugees from Syria. He responded by noting that the percentages were higher for Iraq, in part because he believed the experience for Christians was far worse in Iraq. He also noted that most of the Syria Christians had fled to Lebanon because of the long-standing links between the two countries....
...But Michael J.L. La Civita, communications director of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, said there was a significant difference between the Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
He said many Syrian Christians have fled to regime-held areas, such as Damascus and the Valley of the Christians, hunkering down to remain near their properties and businesses; he said they generally support the Syrian regime. Most Christians who have left Syria have not registered with U.N, agencies, which is a necessary step to be considered a refugee. By contrast, he said, “more Iraqis have registered once they travel to Jordan so as to join families in the West.”
About half of the Syrian Christians have fled, he said, and “the vast majority chose Lebanon, as the churches there have a strong social service system, and proximity and a shared culture and history.”
And that is why the situation is complicated. Assad ruled through a divide and conquer strategy that kept certain minorities tied to him out of fear of what could happen to them at the hands of other groups and he played them off against each other. Christians sided with Assad, and are considered part of the pro-Assad side of the conflict. Unlike the Muslim refugees who opposed Assad, the Christians can find refuge in Assad-controlled territory and many have. Syria and Iraq between them have been the cradle for many religions and have a rich and ancient religious diversity that is sadly being destroyed by ISIS and Civil War. That is the real human tragedy. And if you can only take so many refugees...how do you choose? On the basis of religion? Need? What? There are Muslim sects just as persecuted by these animals as Christians. There are shell shocked families and children who've known nothing but bombs and war. To create further religious divisions is a sad thing.
When I was looking for pictures of Syrian refugees I came across this family, entering Canada. It's very compelling. The older woman, wrapped in this colorful blanket looks shell shocked, barely alive. A girl who might be her daughter has one arm around her, the other, holding her blanket closed protectively. An extremely thin young man, also looking stunned and exhausted, with his arm around her also, and the other around a little boy. This is a family who has lost everything. What have they survived to get to this point? What difference does it make what their religion is?
