United Nations Warns U.S. Not to Backtrack on Refugee Acceptance Following Paris Attacks

The United Nations warned this week that U.S. states should not backtrack on their plans to take in Middle Eastern refugees in the wake of the recent Paris terror attacks.

UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a statement this week that states who have agreed to take in refugees should not now backpedal on their commitment to helping the refugee crisis in countries like Syria and Iraq.

"We are concerned about the reactions from some states to end programmes being put in place, backtracking from commitments made to manage the refugee crisis," UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a statement.

"Refugees should not be turned into scapegoats and must not become the secondary victims of these most tragic events," Fleming added.

Fleming went on to argue that it was "disturbing" that some countries, including the United States, are attempting to backtrack on their commitment to offering refuge for Middle Eastern migrants.

On Monday, several U.S. governors announced that they were rethinking their decision to accept Middle Eastern refugees into the U.S. following the violent Islamic State-led terror attacks in Paris, France that killed 129 last Friday.

"I — and millions of Americans — implore you to halt your plans to accept more Syrian refugees in the United States," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote in a statement. "A Syrian 'refugee' appears to have been part of the Paris terror attack. American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger. The reasons for such concerns are plentiful."

President Barack Obama said in a statement that denying immigrants a safe haven in the United States is "not American."

"That's not who we are. We do not have religious tests to our compassion," the president added.