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
Monday, October 08, 2007
128,000 Iraqi refugees register with UNHCR in Syria
Humanitarian
(DPA) -- More than 128,000 Iraqi refugees were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by the start of the UN refugee agency's mobile registration programme in the northeast of the country on Monday.
The UNHCR said in a statement that the registration team started the programme in Al Hassakeh Governorate where it estimates that over 6,000 Iraqi refugees will be registered during a two month period. The agency said so far its office in Damascus has recorded more than 128,000 Iraqis, of whom 87,432 were registered in 2007.
The registration highlighted the 'vulnerability of many of these refugees with one in five registered this year having a serious medical condition, and one in five being classified as survivors of violence or torture in Iraq,' UNHCR statement said.
'It is a priority for UNHCR to reach vulnerable Iraqi refugees throughout the country. This mobile registration will help us to identify the refugees that need our help the most. In parallel we plan to expand our assistance rapidly throughout the country,' UNHCR Syria Representative Laurens Jolles said. The Syrian government estimates there are around 1.6 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, most of them living in Damascus and its surrounds.
The UNHCR said in a statement that the registration team started the programme in Al Hassakeh Governorate where it estimates that over 6,000 Iraqi refugees will be registered during a two month period. The agency said so far its office in Damascus has recorded more than 128,000 Iraqis, of whom 87,432 were registered in 2007.
The registration highlighted the 'vulnerability of many of these refugees with one in five registered this year having a serious medical condition, and one in five being classified as survivors of violence or torture in Iraq,' UNHCR statement said.
'It is a priority for UNHCR to reach vulnerable Iraqi refugees throughout the country. This mobile registration will help us to identify the refugees that need our help the most. In parallel we plan to expand our assistance rapidly throughout the country,' UNHCR Syria Representative Laurens Jolles said. The Syrian government estimates there are around 1.6 million Iraqi refugees in Syria, most of them living in Damascus and its surrounds.
Labels: Al Hassakeh Governorate, Iraqi refugees, Syria, UNHCR
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Iraqi parliament urges Syria to cancel visa requirements
Regional
(Voices of Iraq) - The Iraqi parliament urged Syria on Tuesday to cancel its decision to impose a visa requirement on Iraqis seeking entering Syria, while Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a senior official to Damascus to discuss this question.
"The parliament called on Syria during its first session of the second legislative term the Syrian government to cancel the visa requirement to be imposed on Iraqi nationals as of September 10," Member of the parliament Abdul Khaleq Zangana, the head of the displaced committee, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The Iraqi government is obliged to find a solution for the current crises facing the Iraqi refugees abroad," he also said, calling on the government and the U.N. Higher Commissioner for Refugees to take a quick action to solve the problem. The Syrian government decided last Thursday to impose a visa requirement on Iraqis seeking entering Syria as of September 10.
"The Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed al-Moualim informed his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zibari by telephone that his country decided to impose a visa requirement as of September 10, 2007, on Iraqi nationals seeking entry to Syria for economic, commercial and scientific purposes, and asked for the Iraqi government cooperation in this respect," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said last Thursday.
The move is seen as an attempt by Syria, home to as many as 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, to reduce the flow of more than 30,000 Iraqi refugees every month. The MP said that the parliament sent a number of lawmakers to talk with the Syrian government in an attempt to cancel the decision, urging the Iraqi government to adopt measures to help Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Iraqi government Ali al-Dabagh told VOI "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a senior envoy to Syria to avoid the negative repercussions of that decision on the Iraqi refugees."
Syria is one of the easiest countries for Iraqis to visit because they can stay up to six months then simply leave any border crossing and re-enter the country the same day to have a new six months' stay permit. It was unclear how the rules would affect Iraqis who try to enter Syria simply to take refuge.
Syria and Jordan host the largest number of the more than 2 million displaced Iraqis and both governments complain of the increasing burdens on their health and education infrastructures. Jordan has made it more difficult to Iraqis to enter in the past to help reduce the flow. During a visit to Syria last month, al-Maliki pledged to help Syria on the increasing flow of refugees from Iraq, most of them are living in the capital, Damascus, and the suburbs. Diplomatic relations were restored between Iraq and Syria in 2006.
"The parliament called on Syria during its first session of the second legislative term the Syrian government to cancel the visa requirement to be imposed on Iraqi nationals as of September 10," Member of the parliament Abdul Khaleq Zangana, the head of the displaced committee, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"The Iraqi government is obliged to find a solution for the current crises facing the Iraqi refugees abroad," he also said, calling on the government and the U.N. Higher Commissioner for Refugees to take a quick action to solve the problem. The Syrian government decided last Thursday to impose a visa requirement on Iraqis seeking entering Syria as of September 10.
"The Syrian Foreign Minister Waleed al-Moualim informed his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zibari by telephone that his country decided to impose a visa requirement as of September 10, 2007, on Iraqi nationals seeking entry to Syria for economic, commercial and scientific purposes, and asked for the Iraqi government cooperation in this respect," the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said last Thursday.
The move is seen as an attempt by Syria, home to as many as 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, to reduce the flow of more than 30,000 Iraqi refugees every month. The MP said that the parliament sent a number of lawmakers to talk with the Syrian government in an attempt to cancel the decision, urging the Iraqi government to adopt measures to help Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Iraqi government Ali al-Dabagh told VOI "Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a senior envoy to Syria to avoid the negative repercussions of that decision on the Iraqi refugees."
Syria is one of the easiest countries for Iraqis to visit because they can stay up to six months then simply leave any border crossing and re-enter the country the same day to have a new six months' stay permit. It was unclear how the rules would affect Iraqis who try to enter Syria simply to take refuge.
Syria and Jordan host the largest number of the more than 2 million displaced Iraqis and both governments complain of the increasing burdens on their health and education infrastructures. Jordan has made it more difficult to Iraqis to enter in the past to help reduce the flow. During a visit to Syria last month, al-Maliki pledged to help Syria on the increasing flow of refugees from Iraq, most of them are living in the capital, Damascus, and the suburbs. Diplomatic relations were restored between Iraq and Syria in 2006.
Labels: Iraqi parliament, Iraqi refugees, Syria, visas, Waleed al-Moualim
Monday, September 03, 2007
Syria to require visas for Iraqis
Region
(AP) -- Syria, home to as many as 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, has decided to require visas for Iraqis entering the country for economic, trade and educational purposes, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The new rules take effect Sept. 10, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was informed about the Syrian decision by his counterpart Walid Moallem in a telephone conversation Thursday, the ministry said.
Syria's move is seen as an attempt by the Arab state to reduce the flow of more than 30,000 Iraqi refugees every month. Syria is one of the easiest countries for Iraqis to visit because they can stay up to six months then simply leave any border crossing and enter the same day to start a new six months. It was unclear how the rules would affect Iraqis who try to enter Syria simply to take refuge.
Syria and Jordan host the largest number of the more than 2 million displaced Iraqis and both governments complain of the increasing burdens on their health and education infrastructures. Jordan has made it more difficult to Iraqis to enter in the past to try reduce the flow.
During a visit to Syria earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged to help Syria on the increasing flow of refugees from Iraq - about 1.5 million are living in Syria, mostly in the capital, Damascus, and the suburbs. The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Thursday praised Syria and Jordan for taking in fleeing Iraqis and urged the international community to show its solidarity by providing more direct, bilateral support.
Syria's move is seen as an attempt by the Arab state to reduce the flow of more than 30,000 Iraqi refugees every month. Syria is one of the easiest countries for Iraqis to visit because they can stay up to six months then simply leave any border crossing and enter the same day to start a new six months. It was unclear how the rules would affect Iraqis who try to enter Syria simply to take refuge.
Syria and Jordan host the largest number of the more than 2 million displaced Iraqis and both governments complain of the increasing burdens on their health and education infrastructures. Jordan has made it more difficult to Iraqis to enter in the past to try reduce the flow.
During a visit to Syria earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged to help Syria on the increasing flow of refugees from Iraq - about 1.5 million are living in Syria, mostly in the capital, Damascus, and the suburbs. The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Thursday praised Syria and Jordan for taking in fleeing Iraqis and urged the international community to show its solidarity by providing more direct, bilateral support.
Labels: Hoshiyar Zebari, Iraqi refugees, Syria, visas, Walid Moallem
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
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 27, 2007
Jordan appeals for help with Iraqi refugee influx
Humanitarian
(RFE/RL) - Jordan has appealed for international help to deal with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis it is hosting on its soil. Mukheimar Abu-Jamous, the secretary-general of Jordan's Interior Ministry, told an international conference in Amman today that the influx of some 750,000 Iraqis into Jordan costs $1 billion a year in basic services, and heightens security concerns in the kingdom.
The conference on the Iraqi refugee crisis brings together officials from Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hajj al-Hmud urged countries hosting refugees not to mistreat those arriving at their borders and to avoid their forcible return until stability returns to Iraq.
The United Nations says some 2 million Iraqis have fled Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion, and estimates that around 50,000 people continue to flee every month, mostly to neighboring Jordan and Syria, which are struggling to cope with the influx of refugees. Rights group Amnesty International said that without urgent action, the influx of Iraqis threatens a humanitarian crisis that could engulf the region.
The conference on the Iraqi refugee crisis brings together officials from Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, and Iran, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Hajj al-Hmud urged countries hosting refugees not to mistreat those arriving at their borders and to avoid their forcible return until stability returns to Iraq.
The United Nations says some 2 million Iraqis have fled Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion, and estimates that around 50,000 people continue to flee every month, mostly to neighboring Jordan and Syria, which are struggling to cope with the influx of refugees. Rights group Amnesty International said that without urgent action, the influx of Iraqis threatens a humanitarian crisis that could engulf the region.
Labels: Amnesty International, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Mohammed al-Hajj al-Hmud, Mukheimar Abu-Jamous, UNHCR
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Jordan to host conference on Iraqi refugees
Humanitarian
(AFP) - Jordan has invited officials from Iraq, Syria, and Egypt to a conference next week on ways to help these states cope with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees, the foreign ministry said Thursday. United Nations officials will attend, with Turkey, Iran, Russia and Japan also taking part in the July 26 meeting as "observers," the ministry said in a statement carried by state-run Petra news agency.
"The conference will discuss ways of helping these states cope with burdens caused by Iraqi refugees," it said.On July 12 the UN refugee agency UNHCR said it had more than doubled its annual appeal for funding to help millions of uprooted Iraqis to 123 million dollars, to boost medical care, shelter and other support.
It urged the international community to "put its money where its mouth is" after Syria and Jordan were left with little in the way of direct bilateral aid to cope with some two million Iraqi refugees fleeing widespread violence. The UNHCR has warned that Syria and Jordan's healthcare, education systems and housing are under severe strain due to the continued influx of Iraqis.
Jordan said in May that hosting Iraqi refugees is costing the desert kingdom around one billion dollars a year, and it has commissioned a survey to determine the exact number of Iraqis on its territory. Syria hosts some 1.4 million Iraqis and Jordan about 750,000, including people who had fled before the 2003 US-led invasion, according to the UNHCR.
UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner L. Craig Johnstone commended both Jordan and Syria for taking in so many refugees, during a visit to both countries to meet officials and check on humanitarian services provided to Iraqis, the UN agency said in a statement.
"Registration is the only way that we can effectively identify those refugees that need our help," Johnstone said, adding that the UNHCR has already registered more than 150,000 Iraqis in the region. Johnstone said Jordan and Syria are "both to be commended for their extraordinary generosity toward those fleeing Iraq" and stressed that "the needs are enormous and these governments should not have to cope alone."
"The conference will discuss ways of helping these states cope with burdens caused by Iraqi refugees," it said.On July 12 the UN refugee agency UNHCR said it had more than doubled its annual appeal for funding to help millions of uprooted Iraqis to 123 million dollars, to boost medical care, shelter and other support.
It urged the international community to "put its money where its mouth is" after Syria and Jordan were left with little in the way of direct bilateral aid to cope with some two million Iraqi refugees fleeing widespread violence. The UNHCR has warned that Syria and Jordan's healthcare, education systems and housing are under severe strain due to the continued influx of Iraqis.
Jordan said in May that hosting Iraqi refugees is costing the desert kingdom around one billion dollars a year, and it has commissioned a survey to determine the exact number of Iraqis on its territory. Syria hosts some 1.4 million Iraqis and Jordan about 750,000, including people who had fled before the 2003 US-led invasion, according to the UNHCR.
UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner L. Craig Johnstone commended both Jordan and Syria for taking in so many refugees, during a visit to both countries to meet officials and check on humanitarian services provided to Iraqis, the UN agency said in a statement.
"Registration is the only way that we can effectively identify those refugees that need our help," Johnstone said, adding that the UNHCR has already registered more than 150,000 Iraqis in the region. Johnstone said Jordan and Syria are "both to be commended for their extraordinary generosity toward those fleeing Iraq" and stressed that "the needs are enormous and these governments should not have to cope alone."
Labels: Craig Johnstone, Egypt, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Syria, UNHCR
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
Friday, June 29, 2007
Looming crisis in Syria as Iraqi refugee influx continues
Humanitarian
(IRIN) -- With up to 2,000 Iraqi refugees arriving each day, adding to the 1.5 million - equivalent to around 8 percent of the Syrian population - who have flooded into Syria since the start of the US-led war on Iraq in 2003, economists and refugee experts warn of a looming social and economic crisis. Tens of thousands of Iraqi families are now living in and around Damascus pushing up demand for already limited goods and services. Observers warn pressures will soon become unbearable as Iraqis use up their savings and become more reliant on the Syrian welfare system.
"When the Iraqis first came, Syrians were happy to help them but now that is no longer the case," said Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights (NOHR) which has monitored the effects of Iraqi refugees on Syria. "Now most people hate the refugees and are angry because food and houses are expensive and there is no work because Iraqis take the easy jobs."
According to government figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics, inflation will reach 8 percent in 2007, slightly down from 9.2 percent in 2006. However, with reliability of official figures on the economy a significant issue in Syria, some Damascus-based economists estimate the real figure for this year's inflation could be as high as 30 percent.
The highest inflation has been felt in the real estate market, with the tens of thousands of extra Iraqi families buying and renting properties across Damascus and raising prices by up to 300 percent. A study by NOHR estimated that the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Damascus had risen from 8,000 Syrian pounds (US$160) in 2005 to 20,000 Syrian pounds (US$400) today. In a country where an average state wage in the bloated public sector economy remains little more than $120, many Syrians are forced to do two jobs, and still struggle to pay rent.
The booming real estate market had raised cement prices to $200 a tonne by March, a 300 percent increase on three years ago, stunting the country's building boom. Figures from the Syrian Consulting Bureau for Development and Investment (SCB), compiled from the state-run press, found that since the Iraqi influx began in early 2005 the demand for bread in Damascus - home to the majority of the refugees - has increased by 35 percent, electricity by 27 percent, water by 20 percent and kerosene by 17 percent. There are an estimated 75,000 Iraqi children registered in Syrian schools, with many class sizes doubled to 60 students and schools working double shifts to cope.
The effect of the refugees has not only been negative. The increase in demand for consumer goods and real estate spurred by the influx of Iraqis has boosted domestic consumption, contributing towards the increase in the government's expected GDP growth to seven percent from 5.6 percent in 2006. According to Sukkar, the Iraqis have "brought in money, invested in real estate, and opened shops, something that - on the positive side - has increased spending in the economy".
"When the Iraqis first came, Syrians were happy to help them but now that is no longer the case," said Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights (NOHR) which has monitored the effects of Iraqi refugees on Syria. "Now most people hate the refugees and are angry because food and houses are expensive and there is no work because Iraqis take the easy jobs."
According to government figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics, inflation will reach 8 percent in 2007, slightly down from 9.2 percent in 2006. However, with reliability of official figures on the economy a significant issue in Syria, some Damascus-based economists estimate the real figure for this year's inflation could be as high as 30 percent.
The highest inflation has been felt in the real estate market, with the tens of thousands of extra Iraqi families buying and renting properties across Damascus and raising prices by up to 300 percent. A study by NOHR estimated that the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Damascus had risen from 8,000 Syrian pounds (US$160) in 2005 to 20,000 Syrian pounds (US$400) today. In a country where an average state wage in the bloated public sector economy remains little more than $120, many Syrians are forced to do two jobs, and still struggle to pay rent.
The booming real estate market had raised cement prices to $200 a tonne by March, a 300 percent increase on three years ago, stunting the country's building boom. Figures from the Syrian Consulting Bureau for Development and Investment (SCB), compiled from the state-run press, found that since the Iraqi influx began in early 2005 the demand for bread in Damascus - home to the majority of the refugees - has increased by 35 percent, electricity by 27 percent, water by 20 percent and kerosene by 17 percent. There are an estimated 75,000 Iraqi children registered in Syrian schools, with many class sizes doubled to 60 students and schools working double shifts to cope.
The effect of the refugees has not only been negative. The increase in demand for consumer goods and real estate spurred by the influx of Iraqis has boosted domestic consumption, contributing towards the increase in the government's expected GDP growth to seven percent from 5.6 percent in 2006. According to Sukkar, the Iraqis have "brought in money, invested in real estate, and opened shops, something that - on the positive side - has increased spending in the economy".
Labels: Iraqi refugees, National Organization for Human Rights, Syria
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Jordan to hold conference on Iraqi refugees in July
Humanitarian
(RFE/RL) - A Jordanian Foreign Ministry official said on June 26 that the Hashemite kingdom will host a conference of countries sheltering Iraqi refugees sometime in July, AFP reported. "Regional countries, mainly Jordan, Syria, and Iraq, as well as the United Nations, will take part in the conference that will discuss ways of helping these states cope with burdens caused by Iraqi refugees," the unidentified official said.
The decision on holding the conference was made during a meeting between Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdallah Khatib and his Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, in Amman on June 26. Jordan has repeatedly warned the international community that the influx of Iraqi refugees has created a huge strain on its economy. The Jordanian Interior Ministry says the approximately 750,000 Iraqi refugees are costing Jordan an estimated $1 billion a year.
Labels: Abdallah Khatib, conference, Hoshiyar Zebari, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Syria, U.N.
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
Friday, May 04, 2007
UNHCR to reopen offices in Baghdad
Humanitarian
(RFE/RL) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will reopen offices in Baghdad in an effort to address the growing refugee problem, the UN announced on May 1. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters in New York that the UNHCR's international staff, now based in Amman, Jordan, will be moved to Baghdad.
The UN withdrew its international staff from Iraq following the August 2003 bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad. Since then, the world body has relied largely on local Iraqi staff to carry out its work in Iraq. The UNHCR announced on May 1 that it has concluded a deal with the Syrian government to provide it with $2.06 million to renovate hospitals, train medical staff, and provide new medical equipment to help provide care for Iraqi refugees, according to a press release on the UN website.
Labels: Antonio Guterres, Baghdad, Iraqi refugees, UNHCR
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
UNHCR to give Syria $2 mn to help with Iraqi refugees
Humanitarian
(VOA) -- The U.N. refugee agency says it has signed an agreement with Syria to help the country cope with the health and education needs of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva that the agency says up to 50,000 Iraqis continue to flee their homes every month. Under the agreement, the U.N. refugee agency will give the Syrian Ministry of Health more than $2 million to rehabilitate public hospitals in the capital Damascus. The money also will be used to build up medical staff and provide new medical equipment.
This is in addition to 11 ambulances the UNHCR is delivering to the Ministry of Health, Syrian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent. This is the fourth agreement between the agency and Syrian government since the beginning of the year. UNHCR spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis says the aim is to support refugee health and educational needs.
Syria and Jordan are hosting more than two million refugees fleeing violence in Iraq. Both countries are overstretched and unable to cope. Last month, the UNHCR held a conference to create international support and protection for Iraqi refugees. Pagonis says the conference succeeded in raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the region. She says governments have promised not to deport Iraqi asylum seekers.
UNHCR spokeswoman Pagonis says earlier this year, the agency set up a new registration center for Iraqi refugees in Douma, 15 kilometers from Damascus. So far, nearly 78,000 refugees have been registered. During registration, she says, the most vulnerable Iraqis are identified for medical assistance, community services and resettlement. She says resettlement is reserved for those Iraqis who can never go home because their lives may be in danger.
This is in addition to 11 ambulances the UNHCR is delivering to the Ministry of Health, Syrian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Red Crescent. This is the fourth agreement between the agency and Syrian government since the beginning of the year. UNHCR spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis says the aim is to support refugee health and educational needs.
Syria and Jordan are hosting more than two million refugees fleeing violence in Iraq. Both countries are overstretched and unable to cope. Last month, the UNHCR held a conference to create international support and protection for Iraqi refugees. Pagonis says the conference succeeded in raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the region. She says governments have promised not to deport Iraqi asylum seekers.
UNHCR spokeswoman Pagonis says earlier this year, the agency set up a new registration center for Iraqi refugees in Douma, 15 kilometers from Damascus. So far, nearly 78,000 refugees have been registered. During registration, she says, the most vulnerable Iraqis are identified for medical assistance, community services and resettlement. She says resettlement is reserved for those Iraqis who can never go home because their lives may be in danger.
Labels: Iraqi refugees, Syria, UNHCR
Saturday, April 21, 2007
E.U. - no urgent need to accept more Iraqi refugees
Humanitarian
(AP) - European Union nations said Friday there was no urgent need to accept more Iraqi refugees, agreeing only to consider sending more humanitarian aid to Syria and Jordan to take in Iraqis. German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters that EU justice and interior ministers did not consider the current refugee crisis urgent enough for Europe to open its doors to more asylum-seekers from Iraq.
"The situation is not such at the moment that we have to start emergency measures. At the moment, the problem is such that we should try to tackle it locally in the region," Schaeuble said. "The amount of money we can use to resettle them here could best be spent there because you can help ten times more refugees there."
However, EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said he would set aside up to $9.5 million in special funds to help EU nations if they want to take in more Iraqis. EU officials also said that on top of $15.2 million already sent to Jordan, Syria and Iraq to help pay for housing, feeding and hosting fleeing Iraqis, they were readying an additional $13.6 million, which could be disbursed later this year.
The U.N. refugee agency and human rights groups have urged the EU to help ease the burden on Jordan and Syria and take in more Iraqis until the security situation in Iraq improves. About 50,000 people continue to flee Iraq every month, mostly to those two countries, according to the UNHCR.
"The situation is not such at the moment that we have to start emergency measures. At the moment, the problem is such that we should try to tackle it locally in the region," Schaeuble said. "The amount of money we can use to resettle them here could best be spent there because you can help ten times more refugees there."
However, EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini said he would set aside up to $9.5 million in special funds to help EU nations if they want to take in more Iraqis. EU officials also said that on top of $15.2 million already sent to Jordan, Syria and Iraq to help pay for housing, feeding and hosting fleeing Iraqis, they were readying an additional $13.6 million, which could be disbursed later this year.
The U.N. refugee agency and human rights groups have urged the EU to help ease the burden on Jordan and Syria and take in more Iraqis until the security situation in Iraq improves. About 50,000 people continue to flee Iraq every month, mostly to those two countries, according to the UNHCR.
Labels: E.U., Franco Frattini, humanitarian aid, Iraqi refugees, Jordan, Syria, UNHCR, Wolfgang Schaeuble
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Cabinet allocates $25 million for Iraqi refugees
Humanitarian
(VOI) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Tuesday $25 million was allocated to support Iraqi refugees abroad. "The cabinet today has decided to allocate $25 million to support Iraqi refugees abroad in the domains of health and education," Maliki told a news conference in Baghdad. He added, "We back Iraqi refugees regardless of the cause behind their immigration. The countries receiving these refugees also will be financially backed. Iraqi governmental offices will start in countries with high numbers of Iraqi refuges." An international conference on Iraqi refugees was opened on Tuesday to discuss means to help the almost two million Iraqis in Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
Labels: Iraqi refugees, Nouri Al-Maliki
Syria toughens up visa rules
Travel
(AINA) - Syria has changed the rule for temporary resident visas for Iraqi refugees. The new rule requires that temporary residents renew their visas every three months instead of every six months. To do so, refugees must return to the Iraqi border every three months to renew their visas.
Labels: Iraqi refugees, Syria, visas
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
