DEARBORN — One of the U.S. government’s highest ranking policy officials on refugee resettlement issues took time to meet with stakeholders, invested in the crisis in Syria, during her visit to Metro-Detroit late last month. 

Ann Richard, the U.S. Department of State’s Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, said that the United States is the leading government donor to the crisis.  It has already provided nearly $385 million in humanitarian assistance, which has served to help people inside of Syria and those who have fled as refugees to neighboring countries. The humanitarian aid, according to Richard, has helped to provide resources, such as food, shelter and household supplies, to victims of the crisis.  

Left, Ann Richard with a member of the Syrian American Alliance.

During her speech at the Double Tree Hotel on April 20 at an event focused on the “Humanitarian Crisis in Syria and Neighboring Countries,” which was organized by the Syrian American Alliance, Richard encouraged people to help raise money for victims of the crisis.  

“We are in the midst of a tragedy of immense proportion,” Richard said. She explained that four million people are displaced in Syria, and 1.3 million refugees have fled the country. 

“When the uprisings first started, I remember my father saying, ‘these people, the new generation, they’re different, they’re not going to be like us,” said Ekbal Najjar, a board member for the Syrian American Alliance, who fled Syria following the 2011 uprisings. 

Concerns were raised about the possibility that money being donated to the U.N. could end up in the possession of the Syrian regime.  Richard said great efforts have been made to ensure that aid is delivered specifically to victims of the crisis.

 On the day prior to the event, April 19, Richard visited Lutheran Social Services in Troy, to meet with U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI) and a number of recently resettled refugees.  She also met with officials from the Chaldean Federation of America during her visit. 

Following Richard’s visit, the U.S. government announced that it would double aid to Syrian rebels, by providing $123 million in non-lethal assistance.  The international community has weighed in on the extent to which the United States should be involved in the Syria crisis.