In a telephone call with Pres. Trump on Sunday night Saudi Arabia’s King Salman agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen. Pres. Trump’s new executive order set the cap of new refugees for FY17 at 50,000 and prioritized creating safe zones for Syrian refugees.
"The president requested, and the King agreed, to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, as well as supporting other ideas to help the many refugees who are displaced by the ongoing conflicts," a statement released after the call said.
For every 1 refugee settled in the U.S., 12 could be helped for the same amount of money by safe zones closer to their home country. Safe zones would also help more refugees since less than 1% of all refugees are officially resettled.
The UN recommends that temporary housing for refugees is a better solution than permanent resettlement since many of refugees are not able to access the refugee processing system and many would eventually like return to their homelands.
This will also protect the U.S. from potential terrorists posing as refugees since according to FBI Director, James Comey, the U.S. does not have the ability to thoroughly screen the Syrian refugees for terrorist ties.
According to a White House statement Pres. Trump also spoke with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan about safe zones as well.
The White House said Trump had also "raised the idea of supporting safe zones for the refugees displaced by the conflict in the region, and the Crown Prince agreed to support this initiative."
Read more on this story at Reuters.com.
