U.S. Sen. Dan
Coats, R-Ind., has put his signature to a bipartisan letter urging Secretary
of State John Kerry to assist religious minorities facing persecution in
Syria and Iraq, such as Christians and Yazidis, to find refuge in the United
States.
Coats joined eight
other senators, seven Republican and one Democrat, in calling on the State
Department to provide these minorities with better access to U.S.
humanitarian aid.
“We write to
encourage you to take expeditious action to protect Christians and other
vulnerable religious minorities from the unprecedented level of violence in
Iraq and Syria,” the letter states.
“Religious
cleansing has reached historic levels in the Middle East,” the letter adds.
“Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria in 2011, President Bashar al-Assad,
Syrian rebels, and terrorist groups have targeted religious minorities for
violence. In Iraq, Christians, Yazidis, and Mandeans have lived in fear of
terrorist groups for the last decade. Now, the brutal Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL) has openly vowed to end the existence of religious
minorities in the Middle East. Accordingly, we urge you to act swiftly to
help protect religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.”