On Monday, 11 aid groups and 32 prominent former diplomats for the US warned Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, against eliminating an important refugee bureau in the State Department, saying that doing so would be a grave error.
The former national security advisors and diplomats, who have worked with both Republican and Democratic Presidential administrations, sent a letter to Pompeo, warning that the ability of the US to influence world refugee policies would be affected if the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration was closed down. The letter was sent barely 12 months after former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was also warned against making such a move by 58 experts on US policy.
The Trump administration has refused to soften its stance on its hardline immigration policy, including detaining undocumented immigrants who choose to illegally enter the US and a travel ban applied to certain countries. The former diplomats say they believe that eliminating the assistance functions performed by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration would have serious negative implications on the Secretary of State’s ability to influence issues of policy that are of great importance to the US.
The State Department made no initial comment on the possibility of shutting down the immigrant refugee office. The number of refugees worldwide increased by as much as 2.7 million to a total of 25.4 million last year, according to a report released in June by the United Nations.