The Forgotten Refugees
Of The U.S. War On Iraq By Lee Sustar Socialistworker.org
More refugees than Darfur. A humanitarian disaster. The largest displaced population in the Middle East since the mass expulsion of Palestinians with the formation of Israel in 1948. That’s the reality of the Iraqi refugee crisis–denied by the U.S. government and routinely ignored in the mainstream media.
THE U.S. government has so far allowed fewer than 2,000 Iraqi refugees to settle in the U.S.
At least 2,000 Iraqis are displaced every day, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). That’s more than 80 people per hour, around the clock–forced to flee their homes because of U.S. military activities, sectarian attacks and threats, and sheer desperation caused by the shattered Iraqi economy.
This is the reality of the Iraqi refugee crisis. At least 4.1 million Iraqis have been displaced so far–and the situation is getting worse, despite the supposed success of the “surge” in U.S. troops to Iraq.
In a recent article in the Boston Review, journalist Nir Rosen describes the Iraqi refugees he met in the Syria capital of Damascus:
On a different street, I found three Sunni friends from Baquba. Firas had been shot a year earlier; his brother had been killed. He and Hamza had fled with their families to Syria one month earlier after Shia militiamen attacked their homes.
Ali had been in Syria for a year and a half. In Iraq, three of his uncles had been killed in front of his eyes and a cousin had also been murdered. “Because we are Sunnis,” he said, when I asked him why. “My school is gone. My father has no work. I’m never going back.”
SOME 2.5 million Iraqis have been forced across the border into neighboring countries, mostly Jordan and Syria. Both countries are overwhelmed and recently moved to stop the flow of refugees.
As of September 10, Syria requires a visa for all Iraqis entering the country. Months earlier, Jordan restricted entry by requiring Iraqis to obtain residency permits or invitations issued for medical or educational purposes. Jordan previously tried to deny access to Iraqi men between the ages of 18 and 35. Expensive payments to smugglers or bribes are the only way around these obstacles.
But in spite of these harsh measures, Iraq’s neighbors have been far more generous to refugees than the U.S. or European countries.
Syria, with a population of just over 19 million, has allowed an estimated 1.4 million Iraqis free access to emergency health care and permitted Iraqi children to register for schools.
But only 35,000 of 250,000 school-aged Iraqi children attended school in Syria in the last academic year, according to UNHCR. [more]