U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York is calling on the U.S. State Department to establish a reward for reliable information leading to the rescue of 276 missing girls in Nigeria.
Schumer says the U.S. should also provide refugee status to anyone who isn't a terrorist and helps find them while placing on its terrorist watch list any individual discovered buying one of the girls or harming them.
An international effort is underway to find and return the 276 schoolgirls being held captive by Islamic extremists in northeastern Nigeria.
Schumer, calling the kidnappings "barbaric and gutless," says the U.S. steps are needed particularly in light of the "disturbingly slow and half-hearted response" by the Nigerian government.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
Further reading:
Curbing Violence In Nigeria (II): The Boko Haram Insurgency
The Man Behind The Nigerian Girls' Kidnappings And His Death-Defying Mystique
