Iraqi refugees arrive in Detroit area as part of new influx to U.S.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/01/america/NA-GEN-US-Iraqi-Refugees.php

ROMULUS, Michigan: Ismaail Ahmed Hamed's relatives remain on the other side of the globe after fleeing their native Iraq, but the 25-year-old was welcomed like family Wednesday to his new home of Michigan.

Hamed, who left Iraq for Turkey in 2005, is among the first of an influx of Iraqi refugees expected to resettle in the Detroit area after escaping the continued turmoil in their home country. snip

Hamed and 13 other refugees arriving Wednesday are the first of about 7,000 Iraqis fleeing their homelands expected to move the United States by September. Up to half of them are expected to eventually come to the Detroit area, a center of Arab immigration that is home to about 300,000 people who trace their roots to the Middle East.

But, they are only a small fraction of the more than 2 million Iraqis have left their chaotic nation since 2003, most of whom have flooded into neighboring Middle Eastern countries. Critics say the U.S. has an obligation to accept far larger numbers of immigrants, with refugee advocates noting that other countries, including some Scandinavian nations, have agreed to accept tens of thousands.