Sunday, November 11, 2007
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction From SIGIR Observations
October 30, 2007 Quarterly Report to Congress
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction From SIGIR Observations
Although the overall security environment has improved recently, contractors, journalists, and Iraq’s citizens continue to live and work in an environment that is, in many places, still quite dangerous:
+ The Department of Labor (DoL) reported 72 new death claims this quarter for civilian contractors working on U.S.-funded projects in Iraq. Since Iraq reconstruction began, 1,073 death claims have been filed with the DoL. Reported deaths in this category were about 22% above the quarterly average.
+ DoS reported that three U.S. civilians died in Iraq this quarter. Since the beginning of the U.S. reconstruction effort, 235 U.S. civilian workers have died in Iraq. Non-military U.S. citizen deaths reported this quarter were 78% below the quarterly average.
+ This quarter, 2 journalists were killed in Iraq; 119 Iraqi and other journalists have been killed since March 2003, and 41 media support workers have been killed in Iraq since hostilities began, including 2 this quarter.
+ Violence continued to force Iraqis to migrate. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that one of every seven Iraqis has been displaced by the conflict in Iraq. The UNHCR noted that large numbers of Iraqis continue to flee the country, and admission into Syria and Jordan became subject to visa approval this quarter. Internal migration is also limited by provincial restrictions on admission of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Although the overall security environment has improved recently, contractors, journalists, and Iraq’s citizens continue to live and work in an environment that is, in many places, still quite dangerous:
+ The Department of Labor (DoL) reported 72 new death claims this quarter for civilian contractors working on U.S.-funded projects in Iraq. Since Iraq reconstruction began, 1,073 death claims have been filed with the DoL. Reported deaths in this category were about 22% above the quarterly average.
+ DoS reported that three U.S. civilians died in Iraq this quarter. Since the beginning of the U.S. reconstruction effort, 235 U.S. civilian workers have died in Iraq. Non-military U.S. citizen deaths reported this quarter were 78% below the quarterly average.
+ This quarter, 2 journalists were killed in Iraq; 119 Iraqi and other journalists have been killed since March 2003, and 41 media support workers have been killed in Iraq since hostilities began, including 2 this quarter.
+ Violence continued to force Iraqis to migrate. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that one of every seven Iraqis has been displaced by the conflict in Iraq. The UNHCR noted that large numbers of Iraqis continue to flee the country, and admission into Syria and Jordan became subject to visa approval this quarter. Internal migration is also limited by provincial restrictions on admission of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Labels: civilian contractors, IDPs, Iraq, Iraqi refugees, journalists, reconstruction, SIGIR, UNHCR
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
UNHCR head warns of disaster as Iraqi governorates refuse entry to internal refugees
Humanitarian
(BBC) - A growing number of Iraqi provinces are refusing entry to internal refugees, the UN refugee agency has warned. The head of the UNHCR Iraq Support Unit told the BBC up to 11 governors were restricting access because they lacked resources to look after the refugees. Andrew Harper warned that, with no imminent end to the displacement, Iraq was becoming a "pressure cooker".
The UNHCR says there are 2.2m internal refugees in Iraq, though the Iraqi government says there are half that. In addition, the UNHCR estimates that 2.2m Iraqis have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan, since the US-led invasion in 2003. Mr Harper told the BBC that Iraqi authorities were increasingly overwhelmed by the internal refugee problem - caused not only by violence, but also by social and health problems such as cholera outbreaks. The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted
He said local authorities did not have the resources to cope, and that the governors of at least 11 provinces - out of 18 in the country - had reacted by blocking internal migrants from entering their territory, or denying them food and education if they do get in. "We are seeing an increasing number of governorates closing their borders or restricting entry to new arrivals," he said.
"And so we have a pressure cooker building up inside Iraq - there is no imminent end to the displacement," he added. "The possibility for Iraqis to find safety is becoming increasingly restricted. So, where they can move is becoming over-populated and intense."
WHERE IRAQIS HAVE FLED TO
Syria: 1,400,000
Jordan: 750,000
Gulf states: 200,000
Egypt: 100,000
Iran: 54,000
Lebanon: 40,000
Turkey: 10,000
Internally displaced: 2,250,000
Source: UNHCR
Alarming humanitarian crisis
Mr Harper said the UNHCR had raised the problem with the Iraqi central government, but was told that local authorities had been urged not to turn away Iraqis fleeing other parts of the country. The millions of refugees fleeing the violence and turmoil in the country, Mr Harper said, were the biggest challenge facing the UNHCR and the international community. He said the figures were increasing on average by up to 100,000 every month.
In Diyala province, aid workers have said they have been unable to reach thousands of families, including displaced refugees, because of the security situation. The huge displacement of people is cementing the fragmentation of the country, says the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, with local authorities ignoring Baghdad by refusing to shelter refugees. That will make national reconciliation even more difficult to achieve, he says.
There are also fears that the ramshackle refugee camps that today dot the Iraqi landscape are a breeding ground for violence, our correspondent adds. Mr Harper's warning comes at a time when Iraq's neighbours have more or less closed their borders to refugees, saying they can no longer cope with the strain.
The UNHCR says there are 2.2m internal refugees in Iraq, though the Iraqi government says there are half that. In addition, the UNHCR estimates that 2.2m Iraqis have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan, since the US-led invasion in 2003. Mr Harper told the BBC that Iraqi authorities were increasingly overwhelmed by the internal refugee problem - caused not only by violence, but also by social and health problems such as cholera outbreaks. The possibility for Iraqis to find safety and find is becoming increasingly restricted
He said local authorities did not have the resources to cope, and that the governors of at least 11 provinces - out of 18 in the country - had reacted by blocking internal migrants from entering their territory, or denying them food and education if they do get in. "We are seeing an increasing number of governorates closing their borders or restricting entry to new arrivals," he said.
"And so we have a pressure cooker building up inside Iraq - there is no imminent end to the displacement," he added. "The possibility for Iraqis to find safety is becoming increasingly restricted. So, where they can move is becoming over-populated and intense."
WHERE IRAQIS HAVE FLED TO
Syria: 1,400,000
Jordan: 750,000
Gulf states: 200,000
Egypt: 100,000
Iran: 54,000
Lebanon: 40,000
Turkey: 10,000
Internally displaced: 2,250,000
Source: UNHCR
Alarming humanitarian crisis
Mr Harper said the UNHCR had raised the problem with the Iraqi central government, but was told that local authorities had been urged not to turn away Iraqis fleeing other parts of the country. The millions of refugees fleeing the violence and turmoil in the country, Mr Harper said, were the biggest challenge facing the UNHCR and the international community. He said the figures were increasing on average by up to 100,000 every month.
In Diyala province, aid workers have said they have been unable to reach thousands of families, including displaced refugees, because of the security situation. The huge displacement of people is cementing the fragmentation of the country, says the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, with local authorities ignoring Baghdad by refusing to shelter refugees. That will make national reconciliation even more difficult to achieve, he says.
There are also fears that the ramshackle refugee camps that today dot the Iraqi landscape are a breeding ground for violence, our correspondent adds. Mr Harper's warning comes at a time when Iraq's neighbours have more or less closed their borders to refugees, saying they can no longer cope with the strain.
Labels: IDPs, Iraqi refugees, UNHCR
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Study finds 50,000 more Iraqis displaced since July
Humanitarian
(AFP) - The number of people displaced in Iraq has increased by about 50,000 to 2.25 million since July, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday. The IOM's new data for mid-September includes some 1,058,424 people who fled their homes since the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 sparked the latest upsurge in Iraq's sectarian violence, the IOM noted.
Shiites make up some 65 percent of the displaced, while 31 percent are Sunnis and 4 percent Christian, according to an IOM survey of 114,732 families. "The majority of the displaced assessed are renting substandard shelter or are staying with friends of family, placing new burdens on host communities," the IOM said in its latest "Emergency Needs Assessments" report on Iraq.
The problem is compounded by many provinces now restricting entry and registration of displaced persons, and by the decision of Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Jordan, to impose visa requirements in order to stem the flow of refugees, it added. The organization's latest review did cite some progress in parts of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar but warned that it was by no means uniform or certain to continue.
Increased security, particularly in the capital, is the central aim of US President George W. Bush's "surge" strategy, which has come under heavy attack in recent weeks. "Some areas, such as Anbar and parts of Baghdad, have seen improved security and therefore decreased displacement," the IOM said in the report. However, people do continue to be displaced in the capital and often for a myriad reason of localized political factors, it said.
In Anbar Province, the IOM said there had been a stabilization in the number of displaced people since January, with "waves" of inhabitants returning coming to its capital, Ramadi, due to better security. A coalition of 42 Sunni tribes has joined with US forces in their fight against Al-Qaeda in Iraq since last year under the umbrella heading of the Anbar Rescue Council. The alliance is credited with helping improve security, but it suffered a grave blow last week after insurgents killed key US ally Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha.
Shiites make up some 65 percent of the displaced, while 31 percent are Sunnis and 4 percent Christian, according to an IOM survey of 114,732 families. "The majority of the displaced assessed are renting substandard shelter or are staying with friends of family, placing new burdens on host communities," the IOM said in its latest "Emergency Needs Assessments" report on Iraq.
The problem is compounded by many provinces now restricting entry and registration of displaced persons, and by the decision of Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Jordan, to impose visa requirements in order to stem the flow of refugees, it added. The organization's latest review did cite some progress in parts of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar but warned that it was by no means uniform or certain to continue.
Increased security, particularly in the capital, is the central aim of US President George W. Bush's "surge" strategy, which has come under heavy attack in recent weeks. "Some areas, such as Anbar and parts of Baghdad, have seen improved security and therefore decreased displacement," the IOM said in the report. However, people do continue to be displaced in the capital and often for a myriad reason of localized political factors, it said.
In Anbar Province, the IOM said there had been a stabilization in the number of displaced people since January, with "waves" of inhabitants returning coming to its capital, Ramadi, due to better security. A coalition of 42 Sunni tribes has joined with US forces in their fight against Al-Qaeda in Iraq since last year under the umbrella heading of the Anbar Rescue Council. The alliance is credited with helping improve security, but it suffered a grave blow last week after insurgents killed key US ally Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha.
Labels: IDPs, International Organization for Migration, Iraq
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
1.14 million Iraqis displaced
Humanitarian
(AP) -- The number of Iraqis who have fled their homes under threat of sectarian violence has more than doubled since the start of the year, despite the increase in American troops that began in February, a humanitarian organization said. The number of displaced Iraqis shot upward from 447,337 on Jan. 1 to 1.14 million on July 31, the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization said Saturday.
Though the addition of some 30,000 U.S. troops since February has brought down violence in Baghdad, it also led to increased clashes with militants. "Does this surge have anything to do with it? We don't know," said Saeed Haqi, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent - the local partner organization of the International Committee of the Red Cross. "But they're leaving because of the security situation in general."
In addition to those who have fled their homes but have stayed within the country, some 2 million Iraqis have fled, with many now living as refugees in neighboring Syria and Jordan. In its midyear assessment last month, the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration also reported a spike in internally displaced people, saying the trend started with the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra, which sparked fierce sectarian fighting.
It said 63 percent of those assessed reported that they fled direct threats to life, and that more than a quarter had been forcibly displaced from their property. Ninety percent said they were targeted because of their religious identity. Shiites have been the largest group to be displaced, representing 64 percent, with Sunnis making up 32 percent, and Christians 4 percent, the IOM said. Shiites make up about 60 percent of the population; Sunnis are about 20 percent. Most of the people have been forced to flee their homes in Baghdad, though Haqi said all of Iraq's 18 provinces were affected.
The IOM said broad trends suggested the displacements were leading to an even greater religious polarization of Iraq, with Shiites tending to move from the center to the south, and Sunnis tending to move from the south to the upper-center of the country. In large cities like Baghdad and Baqouba, both Sunnis and Shiites were displaced to homogeneous neighborhoods of their own sect, the IOM said. Christians and Kurds, meanwhile, primarily fled to the northern provinces, the agency said.
"These large movements of people will have long-lasting political, social and economic impacts in Iraq and the increasingly protracted nature of displacement in the past 1 1/2 years may well be entrenching communal divisions," the IOM warned. "The stability that was anticipated as a result of various security plans has not materialized, and as the violence continues in Iraq, so will the displacement."
Though the addition of some 30,000 U.S. troops since February has brought down violence in Baghdad, it also led to increased clashes with militants. "Does this surge have anything to do with it? We don't know," said Saeed Haqi, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent - the local partner organization of the International Committee of the Red Cross. "But they're leaving because of the security situation in general."
In addition to those who have fled their homes but have stayed within the country, some 2 million Iraqis have fled, with many now living as refugees in neighboring Syria and Jordan. In its midyear assessment last month, the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration also reported a spike in internally displaced people, saying the trend started with the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra, which sparked fierce sectarian fighting.
It said 63 percent of those assessed reported that they fled direct threats to life, and that more than a quarter had been forcibly displaced from their property. Ninety percent said they were targeted because of their religious identity. Shiites have been the largest group to be displaced, representing 64 percent, with Sunnis making up 32 percent, and Christians 4 percent, the IOM said. Shiites make up about 60 percent of the population; Sunnis are about 20 percent. Most of the people have been forced to flee their homes in Baghdad, though Haqi said all of Iraq's 18 provinces were affected.
The IOM said broad trends suggested the displacements were leading to an even greater religious polarization of Iraq, with Shiites tending to move from the center to the south, and Sunnis tending to move from the south to the upper-center of the country. In large cities like Baghdad and Baqouba, both Sunnis and Shiites were displaced to homogeneous neighborhoods of their own sect, the IOM said. Christians and Kurds, meanwhile, primarily fled to the northern provinces, the agency said.
"These large movements of people will have long-lasting political, social and economic impacts in Iraq and the increasingly protracted nature of displacement in the past 1 1/2 years may well be entrenching communal divisions," the IOM warned. "The stability that was anticipated as a result of various security plans has not materialized, and as the violence continues in Iraq, so will the displacement."
Labels: IDPs, International Organization for Migration, Iraqi Red Crescent Organization, Saeed Haqi
Monday, August 20, 2007
Kurdish officials concerned as fierce clashes escalate between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces
Security
(The Guardian) - Iraqi Kurdish officials expressed deepening concern yesterday at an upsurge in fierce clashes between Kurdish guerrillas and Iranian forces in the remote border area of north-east Iraq, where Tehran has recently deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
"If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."
Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Kurdistan regional government, said four days of intermittent shelling by Iranian forces had hit mountain villages high up on the Iraqi side of the border, wounding two women, destroying livestock and property, and displacing about 1,000 people from their homes. Mr Yawer said there had also been intense fighting on the Iraqi border between Iranian forces and guerrillas of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), an armed Iranian Kurdish group that is stepping up its campaign for Kurdish rights against the theocratic regime in Tehran.
On Saturday the Iranian news agency Mehr said an Iranian army helicopter which crashed killing six Republican Guard members had been engaged in a military operation against PJAK. Iranian officials said the helicopter had crashed into the side of a mountain during bad weather in northern Iraq. PJAK sources said the helicopter had been destroyed after it attempted to land in a clearing mined by guerrillas. The PJAK sources claimed its guerrillas had also killed at least five other Iranian soldiers, and a local pro-regime chief, Hussein Bapir.
"If this escalates it could pose a real threat to the Kurdistan region, which is Iraq's most stable area," said Mr Yawar, who said he expected the Iraqi government and US officials in Iraq to make a formal protest to Tehran about the "blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".
Analysts believe PJAK is the fastest growing armed resistance group in Iran. As well as the 3,000 or so members under arms in the mountains, it also claims tens of thousands of followers in secret cells in Iranian Kurdistan. Its campaigning on women's rights has struck a chord with young Iranian Kurdish women. The group says 45% of its fighters are female. Iranian authorities regard the group as a terrorist outfit being sponsored and armed by the US to increase pressure on Iran.
On a recent visit to PJAK camps in the Qandil mountains the Guardian saw no evidence of American weaponry. The majority of its fighters toted Soviet-era Kalashnikovs. In an interview Biryar Gabar, a member of the leadership committee, said the group had no relations with the Americans, but was "open to any group that shares our ideals of a free federal democratic and secular Iran."
Labels: Biryar Gabar, IDPs, Iran, Jabar Yawar, KRG, Kurdistan, Kurdistan Free Life Party, PJAK, Qandil mountains, Revolutionary Guards
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Militants use water to extort 'favours'
Humanitarian
(IRIN) - Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps in Iraq are facing shortages of water, especially clean drinking water, and the situation is being exploited by unscrupulous militants, local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say. Some displaced families have said militants have been delivering clean water to their camps by truck and demanding money, goods or "favours" in return.
"They [militants] sometimes ask for money knowing we don't have any, and then start to search our tents to see if there is something useful, while armed men stay near the truck with their guns aimed at us," said Omar Lattif, 45, an IDP at Rahman camp on the outskirts of Missan in southern Iraq. "Sometimes they even ask for fun with 'nice girls'," he said, adding that two men in the community had been killed for confronting militants demanding sex for water.
Fatah Ahmed, a spokesman for the Iraq Aid Association (IAA), said they had informed the local authorities of such cases but had not received a response. A joint report released on 30 July by UK-based charity Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq said around eight million Iraqis were in urgent need of water and sanitation. The report said 70 percent of Iraqis do not have adequate water supplies - up from 50 percent in 2003.
Earlier this month, a report by the world's principal intergovernmental body on migration, the International Organization for Migration, warned that the scale of Iraqi displacement was "fast becoming a regional and ultimately international crisis".
"They [militants] sometimes ask for money knowing we don't have any, and then start to search our tents to see if there is something useful, while armed men stay near the truck with their guns aimed at us," said Omar Lattif, 45, an IDP at Rahman camp on the outskirts of Missan in southern Iraq. "Sometimes they even ask for fun with 'nice girls'," he said, adding that two men in the community had been killed for confronting militants demanding sex for water.
Fatah Ahmed, a spokesman for the Iraq Aid Association (IAA), said they had informed the local authorities of such cases but had not received a response. A joint report released on 30 July by UK-based charity Oxfam and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq said around eight million Iraqis were in urgent need of water and sanitation. The report said 70 percent of Iraqis do not have adequate water supplies - up from 50 percent in 2003.
Earlier this month, a report by the world's principal intergovernmental body on migration, the International Organization for Migration, warned that the scale of Iraqi displacement was "fast becoming a regional and ultimately international crisis".
Labels: IDPs, International Organization for Migration, Iraq Aid Association, NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq, NGOs, Oxfam, Rahman camp, water
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Iraqi refugee crisis - how to help
Humanitarian
Iraqi refugee crisis - how to help:
Iraqi refugee crisis - how to help:
According to The UN High Commissioner on Refugees, in terms of raw numbers, the nearly two-and-a-half million Iraqi refugees displaced because of the war is a bigger crisis than Darfur. It’s also the largest mass migration in the Middles east since the exodus of Palestinians from Israel in 1948. The vast majority of Iraqi refugees have fled to Syria and Jordan, further straining already overstretched infrastructures in two of the region's poorer countries.
The result is inflated housing costs, scarce water resources and crowded public health facilities and schools. Well over a million Iraqis are internally displaced. According to The UN High Commission for Refugees estimates that as many as a third of externally displaced refugees now outside Iraq is Christian. [And it really matters not what religion they may follow. They are in need of help. Call or write your congress person today and tell them to support the Responsibility to Iraqi Refugees Act. Or make a contribution to the International Rescue Committee or Direct Relief International or American Friends Service Committee or International Committee of the Red Cross/Crescent
Very few organizations are working on getting aid to Iraqi refugees, and of those that are, many are too small or too beleaguered to accept individual donations; the Iraqi Red Crescent, for example, has suffered bombings and mass kidnappings, yet its volunteers continue to deliver aid to displaced families inside Iraq. One of the larger relief organizations working with the refugees is the Catholic group Caritas. Caritas helps a few thousand families a year, but "the demand far outstrips the money available to us," says Magy Mahrous, who oversees the project.
You can make a contribution at: International Catholic Migration Commission, Citibank USA, 153 East 53rd Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10043. To ensure that the money reaches the Iraqi program, write "Iraq-icmc" on your check.
You can make a contribution at: International Catholic Migration Commission, Citibank USA, 153 East 53rd Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10043. To ensure that the money reaches the Iraqi program, write "Iraq-icmc" on your check.
Labels: Caritas Iraq, Direct Relief International, IDPs, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Rescue Committee, Iraqi Red Crescent Society, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Syria, UNHCR
Tragetting of Baath party members leads to further displacements
Security, Politics
(IRIN) - Militants in southern areas of Iraq are reportedly targeting former members of the Baath Party in a bid to exterminate them, causing new displacements, according to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). At least 200 ex-members of the Baath Party of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have been killed so far.
According to local police, hundreds of families have been forced to flee their homes. “Militias are conducting a campaign to exterminate over 4,000 members of the Baath Party,” said Hassan Dureid, spokesperson for Iraqi Brothers Relief, a local NGO working in southern Iraq. “Most of these people didn’t have a choice and were obliged to join the party during the ex-regime.” “Dozens of new widows of ex-members of the Baath Party have reported [the deaths of their husbands] in the past three weeks to southern governorates, and their numbers could increase, according to experts,” Dureid added.
We want to prevent Saddam’s followers from returning to power and the best way is to exterminate them. Militants affiliated with Shia groups refused to give detailed information about the campaign but said their action was to guarantee the “cleansing of any remnants of Saddam Hussein’s regime”. “We want to prevent Saddam’s followers from returning to power and the best way is to exterminate them,” Abu Khalid Alawi, who said he was a senior local Shia militia member but declined to name his organisation, told IRIN.
We want to prevent Saddam’s followers from returning to power and the best way is to exterminate them. Militants affiliated with Shia groups refused to give detailed information about the campaign but said their action was to guarantee the “cleansing of any remnants of Saddam Hussein’s regime”. “We want to prevent Saddam’s followers from returning to power and the best way is to exterminate them,” Abu Khalid Alawi, who said he was a senior local Shia militia member but declined to name his organisation, told IRIN.
“Only Shia families in the southern governorates really know what we suffered in their hands and we don’t want to risk having them back,” he added. The Iraqi Brothers Relief said they were worried about the number of newly displaced families which have been seeking protection in displacement camps in southern areas, mostly on the outskirts of the cities of Najaf, Missan and Basra.
“We have received information from our volunteers that at least 2,000 Iraqis, mostly women and children, have joined displacement camps in the south over the past three weeks,” Farid Abbas, a spokesman for Najaf-based NGO the Muslim Organisation for Peace (MOP), said. “These families are without their husbands or fathers because either they have been killed or were forced to flee to the northern governorates for being ex-Baath Party members,” Abbas said.
Change of policy Current government policy, supported by the US, is to reinstate some former Baath party members in government posts to bolster the government’s effectiveness. This is believed to be one of the reasons for the current campaign by Shia militants in the south. “In 2003, the temporary Iraqi government set up by Paul Bremer started firing all Baath Party members from government posts,” Professor Abdel-Qader Azize, a displacement analyst at Baghdad University, said. “The problem is that most of these people didn’t have a choice and were forced by Saddam’s regime to follow orders or would have been killed.” “This move failed and the US government is now forcing the Iraqi parliament to reverse the law and accept ex-Baath Party members back into government jobs,” Azize said, adding that this was causing local resentment.
The Iraqi government couldn’t be reached for comment but the governing council of Basra said they had started negotiations with militant leaders to get them to stop such attacks.
The Iraqi government couldn’t be reached for comment but the governing council of Basra said they had started negotiations with militant leaders to get them to stop such attacks.
Labels: Baathists, Basra, IDPs, Iraqi Brothers Relief, Maysan, Muslim Organisation for Peace, Najaf, Shia militias
Monday, July 30, 2007
Oxfam - eight million Iraqis require emergency aid
Humanitarian
(Al Jazeera) - Up to eight million Iraqis require immediate emergency aid, with nearly half of the population living in "absolute poverty", according to a report by Oxfam and a coalition of Iraqi groups. About four million people are lacking food and "in dire need of different types of humanitarian assistance", said the report, released in Amman on Monday.
"Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, health care, education, and employment," said the report, compiled by Oxfam and the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI). The report also says two million people within the country are currently displced, while more than two million are refugees.Most of those refugees have fled to Jordan and Syria.
"Many of the figures and percentages in the report were actually derived from UN sources… so we concur with the findings" said Said Arikit, spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq. Said Arikit, a spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq, told Al Jazeera the report painted a "grim picture. Many of the figures and percentages in the report were actually derived from UN sources… so we concur with the findings," he said.
"Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, health care, education, and employment," said the report, compiled by Oxfam and the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI). The report also says two million people within the country are currently displced, while more than two million are refugees.Most of those refugees have fled to Jordan and Syria.
"Many of the figures and percentages in the report were actually derived from UN sources… so we concur with the findings" said Said Arikit, spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq. Said Arikit, a spokesman for the UN mission in Iraq, told Al Jazeera the report painted a "grim picture. Many of the figures and percentages in the report were actually derived from UN sources… so we concur with the findings," he said.
"The government of Iraq is definitely the authority in Iraq and it bears responsibility for the welfare of its people." Iraqi services have been left in crisis as most of those seeking refuge are professionals, according to the report. "The 'brain drain' that Iraq is experiencing is further stretching already inadequate public services, as thousands of medical staff, teachers, water engineers, and other professionals are forced to leave the country," it said.
The entry of Iraqi refugees to neighbouring countries has placed a growing strain on health, education and social services in the two countries. Only 60 per cent of the four million people who depend on food assistance have access to rations from the government-run public distribution system, down from 96 per cent in 2004, the report said.
The number of Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies has risen from 50 per cent to 70 per cent since 2003. The lack of effective sanitation was also highlighted by the joint report, which said 80 per cent of people in Iraq did not have safe access. The report said children were the hardest hit by the fall in living standards, stating child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 per cent before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28 percent currently.
"Despite the constraints imposed by the government of Iraq, the UN and the international donors can do more to deliver humanitarian assistance to reduce unnecessary suffering," the report said. One recommendation called for the government of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, to decentralise the distribution of aid to local authorities, and make it easier for civil society organisations to operate.
The entry of Iraqi refugees to neighbouring countries has placed a growing strain on health, education and social services in the two countries. Only 60 per cent of the four million people who depend on food assistance have access to rations from the government-run public distribution system, down from 96 per cent in 2004, the report said.
The number of Iraqis without access to adequate water supplies has risen from 50 per cent to 70 per cent since 2003. The lack of effective sanitation was also highlighted by the joint report, which said 80 per cent of people in Iraq did not have safe access. The report said children were the hardest hit by the fall in living standards, stating child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 per cent before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28 percent currently.
"Despite the constraints imposed by the government of Iraq, the UN and the international donors can do more to deliver humanitarian assistance to reduce unnecessary suffering," the report said. One recommendation called for the government of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister, to decentralise the distribution of aid to local authorities, and make it easier for civil society organisations to operate.
Labels: aid, children, Co-ordination Committee in Iraq, humanitarian aid, IDPs, Iraqi refugees, Oxfam, poverty, Said Arikit
Friday, July 13, 2007
UNHCR doubles funding appeal for Iraq as 2,000 flee each day
Humanitarian
(Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency on Thursday doubled its funding appeal for Iraq this year to $123 million, saying humanitarian needs continued to mushroom as an estimated 2,000 people flee violence each day. Most of the revised appeal, up from $60 million in January, will be used to provide shelter, food, health care, education and other emergency services to Iraqis who cross into neighbouring countries.
Syria and Jordan are already struggling to host 2 million Iraqis who fled before and since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, while another 2 million people are uprooted within Iraq, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "Massive displacement of Iraqis externally and internally continues unabated, causing a great deal of suffering and uncertainty," Radhouane Nouicer, director of UNHCR's Middle East and North Africa bureau, told a news briefing.
The agency had received $67 million towards its initial appeal, including $17 million from the United States, and was seeking more from both new and traditional donors. "At least one Iraqi in seven is displaced and UNHCR estimates the number of those newly displaced at 2,000 per day," the UNHCR said in an appeal document sent to donors. "Thousands of Iraqis approaching UNHCR are the victims of torture, sexual and gender-based violence, car bombings, or other violent attacks and are in urgent need of medical care.
"Many Iraqi children had been out of school for two to three years, raising the prospect of "potential emergence of a generation of uneducated Iraqi youth", the UNHCR warned. As part of its protection strategy, the UNHCR has set a target of resettling 20,000 of the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees to third countries this year.
Labels: IDPs, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Radhouane Nouicer, Syria, UNHCR
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
UNHCR - over four million Iraqis displaced by violence
Humanitarian
(AP) - More than 4 million Iraqis have now been displaced by violence in the country, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday, warning that the figure will continue to rise. The number of Iraqis who have fled the country as refugees has risen to 2.2 million, said Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. A further 2 million have been driven from their homes but remain within the country, increasingly in "impoverished shanty towns," she said.
Pagonis said UNHCR is receiving "disturbing reports" of regional authorities doing little to provide displaced people with food, shelter and other basic services. "Individual governorates inside Iraq are becoming overwhelmed by the needs of the displaced," Pagonis told reporters in Geneva, where UNHCR has its headquarters.
More than half of Iraq's 18 governorates are preventing displaced people from entering their territories, either by stopping them at checkpoints or by refusing to register them for food aid and other basic services.
Astrid van Genderen Stort of UNHCR said checkpoints are increasing in northern governorates, specifically along the "green line" that divides Kurdish-controlled zones from the rest of the country. Displaced people are also being stopped on the roads leading out of the cities of Karbala and Najaf, which are both south of Baghdad and considered holy by Shiite Muslims.
While many of the checkpoints were originally established for security reasons, they are being increasingly used to prevent displaced Iraqis from moving around the country, van Genderen Stort said. Almost half of all displaced people have no access to official food distribution programs, according to U.N. estimates.
Most of those uprooted from their homes come from Baghdad and its surrounding districts. More than 85 percent of the Iraqis displaced within the country have moved to central and southern regions, Pagonis said.
She said about 30,000 Iraqis continue to flee each month to Syria, which is now housing 1.4 million Iraqi refugees. Another 750,000 are in Jordan.
While Iraq's neighbors are bearing the bulk of the refugee burden, few Iraqis are being welcomed into countries farther away, particularly in Europe, Pagonis said. The Bush administration says it will allow up to 7,000 Iraqis to settle permanently in the U.S. - up from 202 in 2006 - by the end of September and will pay more to help Iraq's neighbors cope with the surge of refugees. UNHCR hopes to find a permanent home for 20,000 Iraqi refugees by the end of the year.
Pagonis said UNHCR is receiving "disturbing reports" of regional authorities doing little to provide displaced people with food, shelter and other basic services. "Individual governorates inside Iraq are becoming overwhelmed by the needs of the displaced," Pagonis told reporters in Geneva, where UNHCR has its headquarters.
More than half of Iraq's 18 governorates are preventing displaced people from entering their territories, either by stopping them at checkpoints or by refusing to register them for food aid and other basic services.
Astrid van Genderen Stort of UNHCR said checkpoints are increasing in northern governorates, specifically along the "green line" that divides Kurdish-controlled zones from the rest of the country. Displaced people are also being stopped on the roads leading out of the cities of Karbala and Najaf, which are both south of Baghdad and considered holy by Shiite Muslims.
While many of the checkpoints were originally established for security reasons, they are being increasingly used to prevent displaced Iraqis from moving around the country, van Genderen Stort said. Almost half of all displaced people have no access to official food distribution programs, according to U.N. estimates.
Most of those uprooted from their homes come from Baghdad and its surrounding districts. More than 85 percent of the Iraqis displaced within the country have moved to central and southern regions, Pagonis said.
She said about 30,000 Iraqis continue to flee each month to Syria, which is now housing 1.4 million Iraqi refugees. Another 750,000 are in Jordan.
While Iraq's neighbors are bearing the bulk of the refugee burden, few Iraqis are being welcomed into countries farther away, particularly in Europe, Pagonis said. The Bush administration says it will allow up to 7,000 Iraqis to settle permanently in the U.S. - up from 202 in 2006 - by the end of September and will pay more to help Iraq's neighbors cope with the surge of refugees. UNHCR hopes to find a permanent home for 20,000 Iraqi refugees by the end of the year.
Labels: IDPs, Iraqi refugees, UNHCR
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Intense food shortages in Kurdistan force refugees to return to dangerous areas
Humanitarian
(Refugees International) - A report released recently by Refugees International calls the flight of Iraqis from war-torn areas for regions of greater security within Iraq "the world's fastest growing displacement crisis." The report details the humanitarian disaster faced by internally displaced people (IDPs) in Northern Iraq, and criticizes the U.N. and U.S. and Iraqi governments for failing to respond adequately and for losing the trust of the Iraqi people.
The report says approximately 12 percent of Iraq's population is expected to be internally displaced by the end of this calendar year. Even those who have landed in the most secure regions, such as the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq, are now facing intense food shortages as well as a lack of jobs, affordable housing and school access. As a result, many are forced to return to the areas from which they came, despite the security threat. The report, which focuses on the three most stable states in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq includes U.N.H.C.R. estimates that 727,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the 2006 bombing of Samarra. In total, 1.9 million Iraqis have been uprooted-including 1 million before 2003-but remain within the country; more than two million Iraqis have fled the country altogether. The report outlines eight steps that international agencies could take to address humanitarian problems on the ground.
Labels: IDPs, Iraqi refugees, Kurdistan, Refugees International
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
ICRC to increase aid operations in Iraq
Humanitarian
(RFE/RL) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has announced a massive increase in its aid operations in Iraq. The ICRC said it planned to expand operations along with the Iraqi Red Crescent to reach some 660,000 displaced people, about twice as many as before. The Geneva-based organization said it is seeking $30 million to fund the expansion of its relief work in Iraq.
Labels: humanitarian aid, ICRC, IDPs, Iraqi Red Crescent Society, relief work
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
IDPs caught up in property scam
Security
(IRIN) - Officials in the Iraqi Ministry of Construction and Housing have asked Iraqis to be wary of vendors who sell properties belonging to the displaced under false pretences. Illegal vendors are using fake documents and forged signatures to sell houses that belong to displaced Iraqis who have been forced to leave their homes as a result of sectarian violence.
Some of them, according to Ministry of Construction officials, produce documents in English which say the US authorities' in Iraq have authorised the sale of such properties, thus making unsuspecting buyers confident that the transaction is legal. Nissrine Issam, a senior official in the Ministry of Construction and Housing, said citizens should be extra careful when exchanging documents for the sale of houses or goods; they should never use third parties, such as agents, in their transactions.
In some districts where violence is escalating, new residents who bought houses with fake documents are refusing to leave the properties they bought and are asking for protection from militias. The problem is compounded by the fact that the majority of property – houses and land – in Iraq is not in the name of the people who claim to own it, specialists say. Many people do not have title to their own land or houses.
In some districts where violence is escalating, new residents who bought houses with fake documents are refusing to leave the properties they bought and are asking for protection from militias. The problem is compounded by the fact that the majority of property – houses and land – in Iraq is not in the name of the people who claim to own it, specialists say. Many people do not have title to their own land or houses.
Labels: IDPs, Ministry of Construction and Housing
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
UNHCR conference on Iraqi refugees opens in Geneva
Humanitarian, International
A two-day conference sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Iraqi displaced persons opened in Geneva on April 17, international media reported. The UNHCR said it will urge the 450 participants from more than 60 governments and international and nongovernmental organizations to do more to help ease the refugee crisis, beginning with Great Britain. Some 1.9 million Iraqis are now displaced inside their country and up to 2 million others have fled abroad, making the refugee crisis the largest displacement of people in the Middle East since the conflict triggered by the creation of Israel in 1948, the UNHCR said. "But we certainly intend and hope that this conference will contribute to raising the awareness of the world to the humanitarian crisis that faces Iraq and Iraqi refugees as a result of the difficult security situation in their country," Radhouane Nouicer, the director of the Middle East and North Africa bureau of UNHCR, said. He noted that the conference will also address the need to protect Iraqi refugees from forcible repatriation, as well as bad treatment or hunger or deprivation by host states.
Amnesty International's briefing: Iraq: A deepening refugee crisis - Media Briefing
Human Rights Watch full report: Iraq: From a Flood to a Trickle - Neighboring States Stop Iraqis Fleeing War and Persecution http://hrw.org/backgrounder/refugees/iraq0407/
Labels: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, humanitarian, IDPs, Iraq, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Syria, UNHCR
Monday, April 16, 2007
Amnesty warns of humanitarian crisis at start of international conference
Humanitarian
(AP, Reuters) - Amnesty International today warned of a new humanitarian crisis in the Middle East unless governments take urgent measures to help some 4 million displaced Iraqis. The group said Syria and Jordan need direct assistance in order to provide housing, food aid, and health care to some 2 million refugees. Nearly 2 million more Iraqis are displaced within their home country, the report said. The appeal came a day before the start of an international conference in Geneva on Iraqi refugees.
The London-based human rights group called on the United States, the European Union and others to help Jordan and Syria, whose governments are struggling to care for some two million Iraqi refugees who have fled their homeland. Another 1.9 million are displaced within Iraq, many in the past year marked by suicide bombings and sectarian violence.
The appeal came ahead of a two-day international conference in Geneva, opening on Tuesday, called by the United Nations refugee agency to confront massive needs in the region. "The Middle East is on the verge of a new humanitarian crisis unless the European Union, U.S. and other states take urgent and concrete measures," Amnesty said in a statement.
From 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes each month in an exodus linked to pervasive violence, poor basic services, a loss of jobs, and an uncertain future, according to the UNHCR. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, U.S. Under-Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky and senior European officials are among 450 officials due to attend.
The appeal came ahead of a two-day international conference in Geneva, opening on Tuesday, called by the United Nations refugee agency to confront massive needs in the region. "The Middle East is on the verge of a new humanitarian crisis unless the European Union, U.S. and other states take urgent and concrete measures," Amnesty said in a statement.
From 40,000 to 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes each month in an exodus linked to pervasive violence, poor basic services, a loss of jobs, and an uncertain future, according to the UNHCR. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, U.S. Under-Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky and senior European officials are among 450 officials due to attend.
Labels: Amnesty International, conference, IDPs, Iraqi refugees, UNHCR
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Almost a million in the south are in dire need of help
Humanitarian
(IRIN) - Nearly a million displaced people in Iraq's increasingly volatile southern provinces are in urgent need of food, medicines and municipal services, local officials and NGOs say. Aid workers have called on international humanitarian organizations and the central government to provide more assistance to the growing numbers of displaced in the south of the country. "Najaf, Kerbala and Basra provinces, in particular, are greatly suffering with a continued increase in displacement. There are dozens of families arriving every day at camps for the displaced, causing a lack of essential needs such as food and health care," said Ali Fakhouri, a spokesman of Najaf provincial council. "The past two months were the worst for those families. For security reasons, the delivery of aid has decreased considerably and because of a lack in medicines in the region's hospitals and inaccessibility to hospitals, children are more vulnerable to diseases," Fakhouri added. "Diarrhea is common among children in displaced groups in the south."
There are dozens of families arriving every day at camps for the displaced, causing a lack of essential needs such as food and health care. Fakhouri said that nearly 90 percent of the 700,000 internally displaced people in the southern provinces lack essential needs. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), of this total, at least 310,000 arrived there after the bombing on 22 February 2006 of a revered Shia shrine in the northern city of Samarra caused an escalation of sectarian violence. Fakhouri said that unofficial records suggest there are at least 200,000 more displaced people in the southern provinces, bringing the total to nearly a million. The economically poorer southern cities have few jobs to offer this massive influx of people. As such, the displaced are largely unemployed and depend on assistance from aid organisations.
There are dozens of families arriving every day at camps for the displaced, causing a lack of essential needs such as food and health care. Fakhouri said that nearly 90 percent of the 700,000 internally displaced people in the southern provinces lack essential needs. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), of this total, at least 310,000 arrived there after the bombing on 22 February 2006 of a revered Shia shrine in the northern city of Samarra caused an escalation of sectarian violence. Fakhouri said that unofficial records suggest there are at least 200,000 more displaced people in the southern provinces, bringing the total to nearly a million. The economically poorer southern cities have few jobs to offer this massive influx of people. As such, the displaced are largely unemployed and depend on assistance from aid organisations.
Compounding the health problems the displaced face in Iraq's southern provinces is a lack of access to food. According to Ministry of Trade officials, the continuous movement of families to southern areas has caused delays in the delivery of food rations (distributed as aid by the Ministry of Trade to help poor families registered by the government). The result is many newly displaced people do not receive food rations "for a period of time because of technical arrangements", said Farhan. Based on information from Najaf provincial council, at least 120,000 people in the province have not received their food rations after fleeing their homes in Baghdad or neighboring cities.
Labels: Basra, IDPs, Kerbala, Najaf
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
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
UNHCR to hold international conference on Iraqi IDPs, refugees
Humanitarian, International
(UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said a major conference in Geneva in April is aimed at increasing awareness of the humanitarian scale of the Iraq conflict and winning international support for tackling the problems. Participants at the April 17-18 ministerial-level meeting in Geneva's Palais des Nations would also try to identify more targeted responses to specific problems, UNHCR's chief spokesman, Ron Redmond, told reporters, while adding that it was not specifically a pledging or donor conference. "The conference will bring together Iraqi authorities and those of neighbouring countries, major refugee-hosting states, major donor countries, resettlement countries, concerned regional governmental organisations, NGOs, UN and non-UN partners and others," Redmond said.
