Threatened because of their affiliation with the United States government, nearly 20 Kurdish refugees will soon find a new home in the Diocese of Idaho, the first of hundreds to be resettled with the help of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM).

Following recent tension in Iraq, the U.S. military airlifted an estimated 2,200 Kurds who worked for the U.S. Government in Turkey to Guam to protect them from Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Hussein, it was feared, might retaliate against them because of U.S. missile strikes against his country.

EMM has signed an agreement to settle 417 of those refugees with parishes in 20 different sites from Virginia to Arizona.

The 20 million Kurds living in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria claim to be the world's largest minority group without a country of their own. One of two rival guerrilla groups allied itself with Saddam Hussein and attacked the Iraqi city of Irbil, bringing on the U.S. missiles.

According to Frances Tinsley, placement and processing supervisor for EMM, the need to get those seeking asylum to their assigned sites has become critical in order to make space for the other Kurds arriving. According to EMM staff, there are still at least an additional 4,500 Kurds still in waiting to be evacuated, EMM staff reported.

Article by: Marie Panton - ENS - Episcopal News Service