Friday, March 23, 2007
Iraqi refugees flee to Kurdistan
Humanitarian
(AINA) About 160,000 Iraqis from outside the mountainous Kurdish north have moved there to flee a growing civil war, according to a draft of a report by an international group that tracks refugees and displaced people. That number is the first comprehensive figure for internal flight to Iraqi Kurdistan that has been released by any organization. It is also far higher than partial estimates previously disclosed by Kurdish officials.
The draft report, by Refugees International, which is based in Washington, says the Iraqis who have fled north face harsh living conditions. Inflation is rampant, and outsiders have few decent job opportunities. Little aid is available for those or other internally displaced Iraqis, because the Iraqi and United States governments, as well as the United Nations, have failed to acknowledge the extent of the crisis, the report said. The report's number of 160,000 displaced Iraqis in Kurdistan is based on estimates by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society.
Two researchers for Refugees International recently conducted a two-week survey of conditions in Iraqi Kurdistan and found that "many of the internally displaced are struggling to survive, the victims of inattention, inadequate resources, regional politics and bureaucratic obstacles," the report said.
The movement of Iraqis within and outside their homeland has produced the world's fastest-growing populations of refugees and internally displaced people. The United Nations estimates that two million Iraqis have fled the country, which has a population of 26 million.
According to United Nations figures, 727,000 have been displaced within the country since the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in February 2006 set off waves of sectarian violence. The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration says about 470,000 displaced people have been officially registered with the government since the fall of Saddam Hussein, though that figure is almost certainly an undercount.
Iraqis moving to the north must pass through security checkpoints and provide the name of a Kurdish guarantor. Arab Muslims generally have a tougher time getting in than Kurds or Christians. Single Arab men have an especially hard time.
Over all, displaced people "who reach the Kurdish provinces must surmount difficulties in finding housing, shelter, employment and education for their children," the report said. That conclusion was reached based on interviews conducted by the two researchers, Kristele Younes and Nir Rosen.
Families that have moved from their original residences cannot get monthly food rations from the government, under a system started in the 1990s during the United Nations oil-for-food program. The children of displaced families often cannot enroll in schools, and few schools have classes taught in Arabic. Rents in urban areas have skyrocketed.
The report recommends several ways to help alleviate the problems. It said that the United States and the international community should take urgent steps to ease the lives of the displaced and that the Iraqi government should devise a new ration card system that would allow people to receive food and fuel in their new locations.
The draft report, by Refugees International, which is based in Washington, says the Iraqis who have fled north face harsh living conditions. Inflation is rampant, and outsiders have few decent job opportunities. Little aid is available for those or other internally displaced Iraqis, because the Iraqi and United States governments, as well as the United Nations, have failed to acknowledge the extent of the crisis, the report said. The report's number of 160,000 displaced Iraqis in Kurdistan is based on estimates by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society.
Two researchers for Refugees International recently conducted a two-week survey of conditions in Iraqi Kurdistan and found that "many of the internally displaced are struggling to survive, the victims of inattention, inadequate resources, regional politics and bureaucratic obstacles," the report said.
The movement of Iraqis within and outside their homeland has produced the world's fastest-growing populations of refugees and internally displaced people. The United Nations estimates that two million Iraqis have fled the country, which has a population of 26 million.
According to United Nations figures, 727,000 have been displaced within the country since the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in February 2006 set off waves of sectarian violence. The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration says about 470,000 displaced people have been officially registered with the government since the fall of Saddam Hussein, though that figure is almost certainly an undercount.
Iraqis moving to the north must pass through security checkpoints and provide the name of a Kurdish guarantor. Arab Muslims generally have a tougher time getting in than Kurds or Christians. Single Arab men have an especially hard time.
Over all, displaced people "who reach the Kurdish provinces must surmount difficulties in finding housing, shelter, employment and education for their children," the report said. That conclusion was reached based on interviews conducted by the two researchers, Kristele Younes and Nir Rosen.
Families that have moved from their original residences cannot get monthly food rations from the government, under a system started in the 1990s during the United Nations oil-for-food program. The children of displaced families often cannot enroll in schools, and few schools have classes taught in Arabic. Rents in urban areas have skyrocketed.
The report recommends several ways to help alleviate the problems. It said that the United States and the international community should take urgent steps to ease the lives of the displaced and that the Iraqi government should devise a new ration card system that would allow people to receive food and fuel in their new locations.
Labels: IDPs, Iraqi Red Crescent Society, Kurdistan, Refugees International
