Ex-U.S. diplomats seek to save State Department refugee office

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns speaks during a news conference in Tripoli Libya April 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Forty former U.S. diplomats and national security officials urged Secretary of State Rex Tillerson not to eliminate the State Department office that handles refugees in a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.

The letter argued that a Trump administration proposal to transfer the responsibilities of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) to other agencies would undercut U.S. diplomatic leverage in grappling with foreign crises.