Africa Regional Media Hub | Refugee Admissions for FY2025;
Africa Regional Media Hub | Refugee Admissions for FY2025; Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS; Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit; UNGA - Global Humanitarian Assistance; DRC; Mali; UNSC: International Peace and Security
The Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2025
Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the Opening of the D-ISIS Ministerial
Joint Communiqué by Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
Readout of Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s Meeting with Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop
Remarks at a UN Security Council Meeting on Maintenance of International Peace and Security
The Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2025
Press Statement
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
September 30, 2024
President Biden today signed the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2025, again setting the refugee admissions target at 125,000 for the upcoming fiscal year—as we have for each year of this Administration.
Refugee resettlement exemplifies the generosity that has always been at the core of the American spirit and reflects the critical role of the United States as a global leader in providing refuge to people fleeing persecution overseas. In Fiscal Year 2024, we resettled 100,000 refugees, the largest annual number in three decades. This is a testament to our successful work to rebuild the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program with help from partners around the world and thousands of Americans across the country who have stepped up to sponsor refugees through the Welcome Corps.
Refugee resettlement is orderly, subject to rigorous vetting, and benefits and enriches American communities. In cities and towns throughout America, refugees contribute to urban revitalization, add to the vibrancy of local communities, and drive America’s competitiveness and innovation on the global stage. Over a 15-year period, refugees contributed almost $124 billion to the U.S. economy. And resettlement offers the unique opportunity of a better life to some of the world’s most vulnerable people, at a time of historic global levels of displacement.
Building on the Administration’s efforts to strengthen refugee resettlement and the generous support from Americans across the country, the refugee admissions target of 125,000 ensures the United States will continue to be a global leader in providing safety and opportunity for those facing persecution around the world.
Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the Opening of the D-ISIS Ministerial
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Loy Henderson Auditorium
Washington, D.C.
September 30, 2024
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Ambassador, thank you very much. Colleagues, good morning and welcome. For those of you who are in New York, I know you just wanted to keep the High-Level Week going, so we’re glad to be able to accommodate that here in Washington.
But in all seriousness, before we get going, let me just say a few quick words about the events of the past week. Hassan Nasrallah was a brutal terrorist, whose many victims included Americans, Israelis, civilians in Lebanon, civilians in Syria, and many others as well. During his leadership of Hizballah, the group terrorized people across the region and prevented Lebanon from fully moving forward as a country. Lebanon, the region, the world are safer without him.
The United States will continue to work with our partners in the region and around the world to advance a diplomatic resolution that provides real security to Israel, to Lebanon, and allows citizens on both sides of the border to return to their homes. We likewise will continue working to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza that brings the hostages home, eases the suffering of people in Gaza, preserves the possibility of a more lasting, secure peace for the entire region.
Diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East. The United States remains committed to urgently driving these efforts forward.
Now, turning to the subject of this ministerial, 10 years ago the United States mobilized a global coalition to confront ISIS – or Daesh – a nihilist terror group that over the course of a few months had occupied territory comprising a third of both Iraq and Syria, which it used to conduct a horrific campaign of violence and brutality.
Over the following decade, this coalition grew from 12 to 87 countries. And together, we’ve made significant progress. In 2017, coalition partners dismantled the last ISIS stronghold in Iraq. Two years later, we did the same in Syria – effectively ending ISIS’s efforts to establish a geographic caliphate. We imposed coordinated sanctions on ISIS-controlled assets to hinder the group’s recruitment and expansion. And in the last five years, we have collectively invested billions of dollars to help restore security and public infrastructure in some of the communities devastated by ISIS.
These were vital, hard-won achievements. But we know that our work is not done. As ISIS aims to reconstitute itself in the Middle East and makes territorial gains in Asia and Africa, our coalition must remain clear-eyed about the evolving challenge that we face. As we were reminded last week, this is a moment of enormous volatility in the Middle East. It’s more important than ever that we enhance our efforts to strengthen security and stability, including in Iraq and Syria, and prevent extremists like ISIS from exploiting conflict in the region for their own benefit.
To that end, let me briefly outline the three core areas where we will focus our conversations today.
First, the United States and Iraq will discuss – and with our other coalition partners as well – our plans for a phased transition of Operation Inherent Resolve. This military mission, established in response to Iraq’s 2014 request for support in its campaign against ISIS, will conclude in Iraq by September 2025. Over this period, the United States will work with Baghdad on bilateral security arrangements that will allow us to sustain and build our security partnership and cooperation.
In turn, our Iraqi partners will assume greater responsibility for ensuring that ISIS cannot retake territory within Iraq’s borders. We’re immensely grateful to Iraq and the Iraqi Security Forces for all of the sacrifices that they’ve made in this effort, and for their steadfast leadership in combating ISIS.
As we shift into this new phase of our collaboration, we hope to continue working with our coalition partners – including the NATO Mission in Iraq, which intends to continue its own security relationship with Iraq.
The United States will also maintain our counterterrorism efforts from outside of Iraq – including in Syria – for as long as needed. Just this month, U.S. special forces successfully targeted multiple senior ISIS leaders in Syria, demonstrating our own resolve to degrade and dismantle the group and its affiliates.
Second, our coalition will discuss today the repatriation of foreign fighters and their families – which remains the only durable solution to the humanitarian and security crisis in northeast Syria.
More than 43,000 displaced persons from over 60 countries reside in northeast Syria. Most are children who have never known another home.
Meanwhile, roughly 9,000 fighters remain in detention facilities across northeast Syria – this is the single largest concentration in the world. Even from confinement, these extremists are attempting to grow their ranks.
Increasingly, coalition partners are stepping up to meet this challenge. Since 2021, the Iraqi Government has repatriated more than 10,400 citizens. In the last year, the Kyrgyz Republic repatriated more than 432 of its nationals. Partners like Kuwait have also helped facilitate repatriations, permitting planes departing from Syria to refuel at their airbases.
Now, we know repatriation remains a complicated, difficult issue. But if we fail to act, security conditions on the ground will only get worse. We could see fighters once again take up arms and threaten communities that we fought so hard to protect and support. This is not the time to let up. It’s a moment to continue our efforts.
We have to urgently accelerate our work to repatriate, reintegrate, and – where appropriate – prosecute detained and displaced persons from northeast Syria. The United States stands ready to provide support – logistically, diplomatically – to advance this effort.
Finally, we will strengthen our cooperation against ISIS branches outside of the Middle East.
In sub-Saharan Africa, ISIS affiliates have gained ground, compounding the threat already present from existing militant groups.
To tackle this growing threat, the United States, Italy, Morocco formed the coalition’s Africa Focus Group in 2021. Last year in Riyadh, we welcomed Saudi Arabia as a co-lead of this effort. Already, we’ve helped African partners better align and coordinate to support civilian-led counterterrorism operations.
ISIS-Khorasan — based out of Central and South Asia – also poses a distinctive challenge. While waging a low-level insurgency in Central and South Asia, this group uses online recruitment to mount attacks around the world, including earlier this year in Iran and Russia.
Through the coalition’s Communications Working Group – led by the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom – we’re working with journalists, civil society groups, and activists to push back against the hollow promises that ISIS propaganda seeks to promote.
In the coming year, we have to continue to drive these key efforts forward.
In that spirit, this morning, I can announce that the United States will provide $148 million to enhance civilian-led border security and counterterrorism operations across sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia.
Separately, we’ll contribute $168 million to the coalition’s annual Stabilization Pledge Drive for Iraq and Syria. This assistance will enable critical demining operations, restore essential services like water and electricity, invest in education, and promote economic opportunity.
This commitment follows the United States’ announcement last week, in New York, of $535 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people, as well as displaced communities residing in the country.
A decade into this fight, we can take pride in all that we’ve accomplished. But as the challenge evolves, so must this coalition.
And as I said, this is not the time to let up. It’s a moment to recommit – to recommit to our common mission, to decisively defeat ISIS, and ensure greater security and stability for all of our people.
I thank everyone for being here today, but more important I thank you for what you’re doing every day to keep this coalition together, moving forward in the mission that we share.
Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.)
Joint Communiqué by Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
September 30, 2024
Ten years after the formation of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS, Deputy Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, and Senior Officials convened in Washington, D.C, today at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. The Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS is the largest international coalition in history and remains committed to defeating Daesh/ISIS anywhere it operates.
In 2014, the United States led an international response to the Iraqi government’s request for assistance against Daesh/ISIS, resulting in the formation of the Global Coalition. In 2024, five years after the Global Coalition’s defeat of Daesh/ISIS in Iraq and Syria, Coalition members honor the sacrifices made by those who fought and died in Iraq and Syria to liberate territories from Daesh/ISIS and commend Iraq for its leadership in the Coalition.
Global Coalition Ministers commit to supporting the Government of Iraq’s efforts to safeguard the security, peace, and development of the Iraqi people. The planned transition of the Coalition’s military mission in Iraq to bilateral security partnerships reflects a reduction of the Daesh/ISIS threat. Ministers commend Iraq’s continuing cooperation in countering Daesh/ISIS in the region, and its ongoing leadership in broader Coalition lines of effort, including stabilization, counter financing, disruption of foreign terrorist travel, and prevention of recruitment to ensure there is no Daesh/ISIS resurgence.
Ministers endorse the priorities of the Coalition Stabilization Working Group, with a goal of raising and implementing $394 million for areas liberated from Daesh/ISIS in Iraq and Syria – toward which members have already announced commitments totaling more than $200 million. The Ministers emphasize the importance of durable solutions for remaining populations in northeast Syria, including bringing to justice detained terrorists, ensuring accountability for crimes including gender-based violence, ensuring detainee populations are housed securely and humanely, and improving conditions for the populations residing in al-Hol and Roj displaced persons camps. Ministers urge support to reconciliation and reintegration efforts in Iraq and Syria and to foster conditions conducive to a Syria-wide political resolution to the conflict consistent with UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Ministers commend Iraq’s progress in repatriating over 10,000 of its nationals from northeast Syria and Iraqi efforts to apply accountability where appropriate and in assisting the displaced to reintegrate into their communities of origin.
Ministers commit to counter the continued spread of Daesh/ISIS globally, including across parts of Africa and Central and Southeast Asia. Ministers reaffirm their commitment to mobilize members and legitimate partners and pursue whole-of-government approaches to disrupt Daesh/ISIS global networks by sharing information via trusted and secured systems, to deny their freedom of movement, and to restrict their access to financing and other resources in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2178, 2396, and 2462. Ministers underscore the need to enhance comprehensive counterterrorism efforts, ensure that our policies and practices are appropriately human-rights-based, block terrorist access to resources and financing, disrupt cross-border movements of Daesh/ISIS, and protect and assist victims who suffered under Daesh/ISIS misrule.
Ministers condemn ISIS-K’s indiscriminate attacks in Asia and Europe and commit to deterring and disrupting future attacks. To this end, Ministers endorse the Coalition-aligned ISKP Diplomatic Grouping, highlighting the need to improve coordination and to partner with regional counterterrorism and strategic communication initiatives. Ministers also commend the work of the Global Coalition’s Africa Focus Group in promoting an active role of African partners and highlighted the imperative to counter malign and non-state armed actors whose actions undercut counterterrorism cooperation and destabilize regions in which they operate. Coalition Ministers welcome the participation of observers from Central Asian states and Africa at the Ministerial and affirm their intent to strengthen counterterrorism cooperation with them.
Ministers applaud the significant work of Global Coalition members in countering Daesh/ISIS propaganda in the ever evolving and challenging information environment, including successful campaigns to expose and discredit the deceptions propagated by Daesh/ISIS. Ministers note ongoing initiatives to prevent terrorists from dominating public narratives across traditional media, social media, and encrypted messaging applications, and underscore the importance of artificial intelligence to combat terrorist propaganda and recruitment. Ministers emphasize that terrorism, in any form or manifestation, should not be associated with any faith, religion, or ethnic group.
Welcoming the Maldives as the newest member of the Global Coalition, bringing the total number of members to 87, Ministers especially recognize the participation of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Senegal, Pakistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan as observers and committed the Coalition to increase engagement in these regions to enhance counterterrorism capacities and coordination. Ministers support the Global Coalition adjusting its processes, structures, and instruments to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose to defeat the current Daesh/ISIS threat and to deter and defeat future threats.
On the 10th anniversary of its establishment, with continued affirmation that individual members bear the primary responsibility for the security of their homelands, the members of the Global Coalition recommit to mobilizing and coordinating efforts to defeat Daesh/ISIS in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, applicable international human rights law, and all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Members of the Global Coalition will stand together until Daesh/ISIS is defeated.
Secretary Blinken to Deliver Remarks at the Fourth International Counter Ransomware Initiative Summit
Notice to the Press
Office of the Spokesperson
September 30, 2024
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will deliver remarks at the Fourth International Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) Summit on Tuesday, October 1, at 12:45 p.m. EDT at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia.
CRI is the largest international cyber partnership, consisting of 68 members committed to building collective resilience to ransomware and disrupting the ransomware ecosystem. Members cooperate across all elements of the ransomware threat, including by undercutting the viability of ransomware and pursuing the actors responsible, countering illicit finance that underpins the ransomware ecosystem, and working with the private sector to defend against ransomware attacks. CRI is a key pillar of the United States’ commitment to working closely with partners across the globe to counter ransomware and other cyber criminal actors, as detailed in the United States International Cyberspace and Digital Policy Strategy launched by Secretary Blinken in May.
The Secretary’s remarks will be replayed on the Department homepage and the Department YouTube channel. Press coverage of the remarks will be open to pre-registered media. Media who would like to cover in person must RSVP by emailing CDP-Press@state.gov by 8:00 p.m. today, September 30, 2024.
United States Announces Nearly $2.1 Billion in Humanitarian Assistance at the 79th UN General Assembly
Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesperson
September 30, 2024
At the 79th UN General Assembly, the United States announced nearly $2.1 billion in humanitarian assistance to address the unprecedented level of humanitarian needs globally. This funding supports critical and life-saving humanitarian assistance to those impacted by crises, including displaced persons and the receptive host communities supporting displaced persons in their time of need. This generous life-saving assistance from the American people includes more than $873 million through the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and more than $1.2 billion through the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. We call on other international donors to also make every effort to increase humanitarian funding to respond to the extreme level of need impacting people globally.
Humanitarian assistance announced at the 79th UN General Assembly includes:
Nearly $424 million for the Sudan regional response: This includes assistance in Sudan and neighboring countries to respond to needs stemming from the crisis that began in April 2023 and has become one of the most severe global challenges. It will provide food, health, nutrition, protection, and other critical assistance to people across Sudan and neighboring countries who have been devastated by the ongoing conflict.
Nearly $336 million to support Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank : This assistance provides life-saving humanitarian aid, including expanded support in emergency health care, food, nutrition, psychosocial services, and increased access to safe drinking water, hygiene products, and sanitation services for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank affected by the ongoing conflict. It also supports logistics and emergency shelter assistance to displaced Gazans to help them prepare for the upcoming winter months.
Nearly $535 million for the Syria response: This assistance will help meet the needs of the most vulnerable refugees, internally displaced persons, and host communities in Syria and neighboring countries. This includes emergency shelter; food assistance; access to health care and education; water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies; support for livelihoods; and protection for those in situations of vulnerability.
Nearly $199 million for Rohingya refugees and their host communities: This assistance supports the needs of Rohingya refugees and communities hosting them in Bangladesh and the region. It will provide protection, shelter, and food for those forced to flee violence and persecution. It will also support disaster preparedness and protection for refugees and host communities, bolster access to education and skills training, and prepare refugees for their potential return home when conditions allow.
$597 million for migration efforts in the Western Hemisphere: This assistance responds to the needs of refugees, vulnerable migrants, as well as other displaced and stateless persons across the region, including life-saving assistance such as emergency food assistance, shelter, access to emergency health care, improvements to local infrastructure for potable water and sanitation facilities, access to protection services, and support to local schools. It also supports the Safe Mobility Initiative and advances the goals of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection to foster responsibility sharing, stability, and assistance for affected communities.
The United States is proud to be the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance globally, providing more than $54 billion in humanitarian assistance since 2021. The United States is leading efforts to respond to global humanitarian needs, working with partners to transform humanitarian response for the 21st century, and making humanitarian assistance more resilient to climate impacts.
For further information, please follow @StatePRM and @USAIDSavesLives.
Remarks by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield at a UN Security Council Briefing on the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
New York, New York
September 30, 2024
AS DELIVERED
Thank you, Mr. President. Before I give my remarks, I just want to share that I was just informed that Dikembe Mutombo, a very renowned humanitarian, former NBA star, Congolese-American, who worked to contribute to the well being of the Congolese people, just died at the age of [58]. So, may his soul rest in peace.
Thank you SRSG Keita for your briefing today, and for the dedicated efforts of the entire UN and MONUSCO teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I want to thank our civil society briefer, Ms. Nzale-Kove, for your briefing. And I want to thank Sierra Leone for your briefing.
The United States offers its full support to the ongoing ceasefire in eastern DRC, and to Angola’s leadership of both the Luanda process and the Ad Hoc Verification Mechanism.
We call on all parties to honor the ceasefire, and direct their aligned armed groups to do the same. The parties’ willingness to come to the table is a positive first step, but there is still far more work to be done. They must also deliver on their commitments and bring peace to the people of this region.
Rwanda must immediately withdraw its more than 4,000 troops from DRC territory and cease its support for M23. M23 must immediately withdraw to its November 2023 positions. And the DRC must take immediate actions against FDLR and cease its support to the group.
In addition, the United States appreciates the strong collaboration between the DRC government and MONUSCO on both the mission’s drawdown and its ongoing, essential activities including to reinforce the current ceasefire and protect displaced civilians.
We also welcome the DRC’s efforts at the local and national levels to consolidate MONUSCO’s drawdown from South Kivu.
That being said, MONUSCO’s departure from South Kivu has left critical gaps that cannot go unfilled.
For example, five of six child protection advisors who monitored and reported on violations against children have left the province.
Their absence underscores the urgency of effectively transitioning MONUSCO’s wide ranging tasks to entities, particularly the DRC government, that are properly mandated and well-resourced.
We encourage MONUSCO, the UN, and the DRC government to ensure these capacities are urgently filled. And we reiterate our position that this Council should not authorize a further drawdown of MONUSCO without a clear plan to mitigate against these gaps.
To that end, we appreciate the frank efforts by MONUSCO and DRC authorities to reflect on the disengagement process, and ensure a sequenced, orderly, and coordinated approach. Because ultimately, sustainable transitions take place.
We support the technical discussions already underway between MONUSCO, and the DRC government, and international partners to take advantage of significant lead time in the mission’s departure from North Kivu and Ituri. Especially because significant challenges remain in these provinces.
In North Kivu, M23 continues to obstruct the movements of MONUSCO and humanitarian actors, while threatening violence against UN peacekeepers and positions. Demands that MONUSCO vacate its positions so that M23 can consolidate or further expand its territorial control are wholly unacceptable. We offer our firmest support to the MONUSCO personnel stationed in these areas, who have demonstrated great professionalism and resolve.
In Ituri, we remain deeply concerned by the increasingly lethal operations perpetrated against civilians by the armed group CODECO and the terrorist organization ISIS-DRC, or ADF.
MONUSCO’s role in protecting civilians, including those in vulnerable internally displaced person camps, is absolutely essential, especially in areas with scant government security presence.
Finally, the United States urges improved communications between MONUSCO and SAMIDRC to ensure the collaboration as authorized under UN Security Council Resolution 2746 does not inflame regional tensions at a fragile moment.
We look forward to a detailed Secretary-General report on the implementation of that resolution.
In closing, we strongly urge the parties to take advantage of this unique opportunity to deliver peace to the region by fully committing to diplomatic processes and taking courageous steps to end this conflict.
For the sake of the people of the Great Lakes region, we must not let this chance escape us.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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Readout of Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s Meeting with Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop
United States Mission to the United Nations
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2024
The below is attributable to U.S. Mission to the United Nations Acting Spokesperson Lauren French:
Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, met today with Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield condemned the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist attack in Mali on September 17, and offered condolences to the families and loved ones of the killed and injured. The Ambassador affirmed the United States’ commitment to engaging with Mali and the broader region to combat terrorism, as well as to continue longstanding U.S. support to the people of Mali. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield urged the transitional government to schedule and hold elections to deliver on its pledge to the Malian people.
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Remarks at a UN Security Council Meeting on Maintenance of International Peace and Security
Ambassador Robert Wood
Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs
New York, New York
September 30, 2024
Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to thank the directors of UNHCR and IOM for their briefings. We appreciate the role of IOM and the High Commissioner for Refugees to help ensure migrants and refugees are treated in accordance with international law.
The United States acknowledges the decision of the penholders of resolution 2240 not to seek renewal of its authorizations for Member States to inspect vessels on the high seas off Libya’s coast suspected of being used for migrant smuggling and human trafficking from that country, and to seize those vessels confirmed as being used for those purposes.
We do, however, remain deeply concerned about migrant smuggling and human trafficking.
Since 2015, Operation Irini has been a key component of international efforts to alleviate the human tragedy of migrant deaths on the high seas off Libya’s coast and in the Mediterranean.
The European Union demonstrated through Operation Irini its steadfast commitment to rescuing refugees, migrants, and victims of trafficking.
The reality is that irregular migration is a challenge that is bigger than just Operation Irini could address. We all share responsibility for managing migration on our respective borders and a commitment to promoting safe, orderly, humane, and regular migration management.
We believe that prioritizing both access to international protection for those who need it, and humane border management measures, are essential to addressing forced displacement and the challenges of irregular migration.
To that end, the United States welcomed UNSMIL’s statements about the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in Tripoli this past July as an important opportunity to advance an approach to migration governance that respects human rights.
The international community can do more to help vulnerable migrants by supporting the Secretary-General’s call for a holistic approach to address the root causes of irregular migration. We must recommit to ending the conflicts and reducing the extreme poverty that are driving many individuals to leave their homes in the first place.
The United States stands ready to work constructively with others in this regard. Thank you.
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The U.S. Department of State French Language Spokesperson Johann Schmonsees is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Please direct interview requests or questions to AFMediaHub@state.gov.