Why We Need Careful Vetting Of Refugees

Not all cultures are alike. There are actions and attitudes that are acceptable in Islamic cultures that are simply not acceptable in America–things like marrying a fourteen-year-old girl, female genital mutilation, honor killings, no rights for women, denying freedom of religion, etc. Unless refugees are willing to accept American views on those (and many other) cultural standards, they need to settle elsewhere. There are countries in the Middle East that share their culture. For whatever reason, those countries have not welcomed the refugees from their neighboring countries.

Fox News posted a story today about an incident in a small Idaho town that illustrates the problem of some of the refugee children now in our schools.

The article reports:

An alleged sexual assault on a five-year-old special needs girl has put a small Idaho city at the center of the debate over the Obama administration’s move to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Much of what occurred in the June 2 incident is unclear, clouded by emotion and rumor and sealed from public record due to the suspects’ ages. At a raucous public meeting Monday, dozens of residents of the city of 44,000 voiced their concerns after word had spread that young Syrian refugees had gang-raped a little girl at knifepoint, defiling her in unspeakable ways.

Some of what they had heard was true, some was not and still more remains unconfirmed speculation. But authorities believe something terrible occurred. Two young boys were arrested Friday and remain in custody.

Snopes reports that the story is ‘mostly false,’ but actually confirms some major parts of the story:

Despite the hot-button issue of refugee resettlement, the story has gained little traction with the national media, and Internet fact-check site Snopes.com has labeled the information circulating on the web as “mostly false.” According to Loebs (Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs), the three assailants, ages 7, 10 and 14, are not Syrian, but may be refugees. The girl was not raped, but is believed to have been sexually assaulted, he said.

The article further reports:

Twin Falls Police Chief Craig Kingsbury told reporters the suspects are Iraqi and Sudanese. Loebs said he does not know how long they have been living in the United States.

If you read the Snopes report, the website seems to be concerned about the fact that the attackers were not Syrians. That may be, but they are products of a culture that does not value women and where a women would have to have four witnesses to make a rape charge. They are also from a culture where a woman can be stoned because she has been raped. There have been exaggerations of the attack and misrepresentations of the nationality of the attackers, but the nature of the attack and the culture behind the attack are as reported.

One person interviewed in the story stated:

Twin Falls activists say the case and the lack of information from authorities demonstrates the problem with state and federal programs to resettle refugees in cities and towns.

“We’re worried that these are the kids who will be going to school with our kids,” said Odell. “We want to know what is happening.”

There are a lot of parents who feel this way.