WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (KUNA) -- US President Joe Biden signed the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2023, setting the refugee admissions target at 125,000 for this upcoming fiscal year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced late Tuesday. "This ambitious target demonstrates that the United States is committed to rebuilding and strengthening the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)," Blinken said in a statement. He indicated that "over the history of the program, the USRAP has resettled nearly 3.5 million refugees in the United States." He stressed that "the world is now facing unprecedented levels of forced displacement and the United States continues to lead in international humanitarian response, including through increasing third country resettlement." "Our refugee admissions program embodies the best of American values and the will to help those in need, and it will continue to provide access to resettlement as a lifesaving, durable solution," he concluded.
In his Presidential Determination, Biden wrote that "the admission of up to 125,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest." (end) si.rk