Refugees Suffering in Iraq
By Amanda S. Coleman
The war in Iraq is responsible for the deaths of thousands of troops from several countries, but there is another group that has suffered even more from this war: the countless Iraqi refugees. The current war is not the only one that has devastated the inhabitants of the country; they had endured many destructive wars during the reign of Saddam Hussein, which began in 1979. Since then, Iraqis have suffered through the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, the Anfal Campaign (to wipe out the Kurdish population), the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the first Gulf War, and the current war with the United States. All of these conflicts have added to the problem of refugees.
Before the current war, Iraqi refugees could be divided into two main groups. The first is Iraqi political dissidents or deserting members of Hussein’s national army. The second are Shiite Muslims who have rebelled against the Sunni-led government.
Shiite Muslims rebelled against the government after the 1991 Gulf War, but were unsuccessful. When their revolt collapsed, around 100,000 Shiites fled to Iran, Saudi Arabia and the U.S-occupied zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border. Wary of retribution against the refugees after the U.S. troops withdrew from the area, the U.S. made a deal with the Saudi government to create a refugee camp near Rafha and another called Al Artawea, to be sustained by the Saudis. Numerous refugees reported that the conditions at the Al Artawea camp were extremely poor so the camp was eventually closed, and all the refugees were sent to Rafha.
During the present war, up to 50,000 Iraqis leave their homes every month out of fear for their lives, according to CNN. The U.N.’s refugee agency is seeking $60 million to assist the approximately 3.7 million people that have been displaced by constant wars within Iraq. The refugee problem is out of control, and quickly getting worse as the number of people fleeing from their homes grows every day. In 2006 alone, almost 500,000 Iraqis fled to other areas within the country. "The current exodus is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948," says the UN High Commissioner for Refugees website. CNN.com reports that there are between 500,000 and one million Iraqi refugees in Syria, about 700,000 in Jordan, about 80,000 in Egypt, about 40,000 in Lebanon, and about 32,000 in the United States. There are additional refugees in Turkey as well.
The refugees suffer in many ways, as poverty and child labor problems go hand in hand with their displacement. For example, in Syria, where there are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees, about 30 percent of the children are not in school, according to CNN.com.
As the war continues, and more and more people become victims each day, a clear solution is needed desperately. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been greatly under-funded, and has not accomplished very much in the past few years. As well as funds, it also lacks adequate support and participation from the international community. It was only able to resettle 1,500 Iraqis in the past three years, according to the Reuters Foundation. Lately, it has been a bit more successful, and as of 2007, it has helped 4,500 people resettle. This is still not enough though, and more assistance is essential.
One possible solution is to put refugees in safer regions of Iraq, or in neighboring countries. Resettlement would be ideal, but this is difficult, as the UNHCR does not have enough resources for the vast number of refugees, and the war continues to rage on taking more lives and displacing more people. If the UNHCR is going to be successful, it especially needs other countries to be willing to allow Iraqi refugees to resettle in their territory. According to the Reuters Foundation, the United States will play a key role in resettling Iraqi refugees; the government plans to fund at least 50 percent of the UNHCR’s budget to help the refugees.
The United States is facing a lot of criticism about how much help it is offering the refugees. The U.S, as the leader of the war effort, is responsible for all outcomes, including taking care of the refugees. Shockingly, only 202 Iraqis were granted political asylum into the United States in 2006, and the set limit for 2007 is only 500. While more than $100 billion of U.S. taxpayer money is going to help fund the war and the reconstruction of Iraq this year, only $20 million has been assigned to help with migration and refugee assistance.
The war-torn country of Iraq is facing many crises, but one of the
most pressing and difficult is that of the vast number of refugees.
According to the Los Angeles Times, one out of eight Iraqis is displaced.
Funding and support, especially from other countries, is essential to
helping to solve this problem.
Sources
http://www3.baylor.edu/~Charles_Kemp/iraqi_refugees.htm
U.N. Wants $60M to help scattered Iraqi refugees. CNN: 2007; New York. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/08/iraq.refugees/index.html
Garcia, Sean & Kristele Younes. Iraqi Refugees: Resettle the Most Vulnerable. Refugees International USA: 2007. http://www.refugeesinternational.org
Shunning Iraq’s Refugees. L.A. Times: 2007; Los Angeles.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-asylum19jan19,1,2756308.story?coll=la-news-comment
