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Iraqis refugees flood nearby states

 
Financial Times
February 14 2007
By Mark Turner at the United Nations
 
Iraq is experiencing the largest movement of civilians in the Middle East since the exodus of Palestinians after the creation of Israel, the United Nations says, but the rest of the world is failing to step up to the plate.
 
Two million Iraqis have become refugees in other countries, with most heading to neighbouring Jordan and Syria, while another 1.8m have become displaced within their own country.
 
Assuming a total population of around 26m that is a "staggering" amount, says Gonzalo Vargas Llosa from the UNHCR refugee agency, and the numbers "are rising every day".
 
Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, on Wednesday revealed plans for the US to allow 7,000 Iraqi refugees - who have already fled to neighbouring countries - to settle in the US over the next year. Until now the US has allowed only 463 Iraqi refugees into the country since the war began in 2003.
 
The announcement came after Ms Rice met António Guterres, the head of the UNHCR, who has recently returned from a tour of the Middle East where he had complained that the burden of the refugee crisis meant that "a very limited number of countries is paying a very heavy price''.
 
The UN last month issued a $60m appeal, warning that there was "currently no end in sight to the massive and escalating displacement in the face of extreme violence". The US yesterday pledged $9m for a worldwide resettlement and relief programme but the UN effort remains seriously underfunded.
 
Without that money, the UN says, "UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies lack the resources to cope", even as increasing numbers of people are cut off from social networks and struggling to subsist.
 
"Large numbers of Iraqi refugees are poor and live in low-income areas," the appeal warned. "There are reports of women and young girls forced to resort to prostitution... and children forced into labour or other forms of exploitation in order to survive."
 
A UN assessment in Syria found that 30 per cent of Iraqi children were not attending school and the appeal cited growing reports that Syria, Jordan and Lebanon had reached "saturation point".
 
The UN on Tuesday said the number of Iraqis wanting to register with the UNHCR in Damascus and Amman had "dramatically increased over the past few days". It added that many Iraqis were afraid of being deported under newly reinforced Syrian immigration regulations, despite Syrian government assurances that it would not force them across the border.
 
At the same time, most of the displaced inside Iraq "are now running out of resources", Mr Vargas Llosa says, but security problems meant they were cut off from outside help.
 
"I am not sure if there is a crisis today in Africa where there are basically 4m displaced," he said. "But the issue has not been given the prominence and visibility it deserves. It's very important for the international community to recognise the enormity of the problem."
 
Despite the renewed attention, the UN appeal remains mostly empty. It has received $6m from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund, and a further $1m from the UN-managed International Trust Fund for Iraq.
 
But the only donor country to contribute directly has been Sweden, with $2m. Some others have pledged funds but the money has not yet arrived, while the UK, for example, has not even pledged. The UNHCR says it had to dig into its emergency reserve just to pay this month's salaries for its Iraq operation staff.
 
The UN also wants rich countries to be more generous in offering resettlement. "This is not a solution for the vast majority," says Mr Vargas Llosa, but "certainly you could resettle more than has been the case so far".
 
In the meantime, the UN says Iraq's neighbours - with outside help - must continue to offer social services. "We understand this is a great burden on them, but the fact is for many Iraqis there is no option but to cross borders," it says. "They should be able to lead dignified lives in Jordan and Syria."
 
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
 
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