Paris attacks survivor defends refugees following US House vote

'They are coming here to start a new life and be safe, and to be told they are the problem is very upsetting'

Dina Jaber at the Stade de France during last Friday’s attacks (CNN )

A Syrian-American woman who survived the Paris terror attacks has defended refugees, after the US House of Representatives passed a bill to pause a program allowing Syrian refugees into the country.

Dina Jaber, a Muslim and the daughter of Syrian immigrants to the US, said she was “extremely disappointed” by the outcome of Thursday’s legislation.

The overwhelmingly passed Republican-backed bill seeks to suspend President Barack Obama's program to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year and intensify the process of screening them.

The bill, drafted this week following the Paris attacks that killed 129 people, was approved on a vote of 289-137.

Ms Jaber was present at the Stade de France during last Friday’s attacks, where two explosions were heard as the crowd enjoyed a friendly match between France and Germany.

Speaking of her experience, Ms Jaber told CNN there was "panic" outside the stadium following the match, lots security in the streets and "everybody was holding onto every one next to them."

"Had those guys made it inside the stadium, the night would have ended very differently," she said.

An electronic board at the Stade de France stadium after the Paris terror attacks Getty (Getty)

When asked what her response was to hearing some US states say they do not want to accept Syrian refugees, Ms Jaber said: “I wouldn't expect the governors to take such a hasty decision and quickly decide to label everyone that is Syrian, that is Muslim, as terrorists, as linked to these incidents.

"Many of the people involved in what happened Friday evening in Paris were actually European born and raised. It wasn't that they had all come across as refugees.

She continued: “There are so many people already coming to the United States who are fleeing those terrorists in Syria, in the Middle East.

“They are coming here to start a new life and be safe, and to be pointed at and told that they are the problem, that it's their fault, is very upsetting.

“I really urge anyone who has doubts about these Syrian refugees to just take a moment, meet with one of those families, sit down and talk to them, and ask them their story.

“Because I'm sure if you were to hear what they have been through, you wouldn't think that they were a threat to you.”

Forty-seven of Mr Obama's 188 fellow Democrats backed the bill, breaking with the White House to support it.

The proposed bill would require high-level officials to verify that each Syrian refugee poses no security risk.

Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said it was important to act quickly "when our national security is at stake."

Mr Obama said refugees already faced the most vigorous vetting process for anyone admitted to the country Reuters (Reuters)

Loretta Lynch, Mr Obama’s attorney general, called the proposed screening impractical and impossible: "To ask me to have my FBI director or other members of the administration make personal guarantees would effectively grind the program to a halt."

While many Americans historically see the United States as welcoming to immigrants, accepting refugees from Syria has raised concerns they may pose a national security threat following the Paris attacks, which have been claimed by Isis who released statements suggesting the “blessed battle” was an act of revenge for France’s involvement in the US-led coalition bombing its militants in Iraq and Syria.

Mr Obama said refugees already faced the most vigorous vetting process for anyone admitted to the country.

He added: "The idea that somehow they pose a more significant threat than all the tourists who pour into the United States every single day just doesn't jibe with reality."

Yesterday, CNN suspended one of its journalists after she posted a critical tweet about the House of Representatives passing the bill.

Elise Labott, CNN's global affairs correspondent, has been suspended for two weeks after tweeting a CNN story about the bill with the words: “Statue of Liberty bows head in anguish”.

Additional reporting by Reuters