Crib Sheet: Iraq’s Refugee Crisis
With Iraqi civilian casualties in the thousands, a related issue often goes neglected in the news. By Ian Bomberg, Tufts University
Monday July 16, 2007
Since 2003, the war in Iraq has created more than two million Iraqi refugees—8 percent of Iraq’s prewar population. An additional 50,000 Iraqis flee their homes each month. This growing crisis places great pressure on Iraq’s neighbors, Jordan and Syria, which now handle hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living within their borders.
Who is a refugee?
The 1951 Geneva Convention defined a refugee as any person who, due to “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”
Refugees fleeing to Jordan
Jordan, a nation of nearly six million people, has become a haven for almost 800,000 Iraqi refugees. Most of these refugees were accepted in the first three years of the war. Jordan is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and thus has no legal limitations for the classification of foreign visitors. Consequently, the government has categorized Iraqis not as refugees, but rather as “guests” or “temporary visitors.” This classification has allowed the government to frequently change its policies regarding incoming persons. After three Iraqi suicide bombers launched an attack in Amman in November 2005, killing 60 people, Jordan began to limit its intake of new refugees.
In Jordan, the large number of Iraqi refugees has led to an increase in terrorist activity. Skyrocketing housing prices, an overburdened education system, and decreasingly available social services have altered the everyday lives of Jordanians.
Refugees fleeing to Syria
Syria has become a place of refuge for many Iraqis since 2003. As with Jordan, Syria’s estimated 1.4 million Iraqis have strained the healthcare and education systems, and have led to rising housing and commodity prices. Overall, the influx of Iraqi refugees has hurt the Syrian government’s ability to provide for its own population.
For many Iraqis looking to leave their war-torn country, the road to Damascus is most appealing. Syria has an open border policy and offers many free public services. However, fleeing to Syria is becoming increasingly dangerous, in particular for the Shi’a majority, as families must travel through the dangerous and Sunni-dominated Anbar province to get to the border.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) defines IDPs as “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.”
The IDP crisis in Iraq exploded after the bombing of the Al-Askariya Shrine in February of 2006. From February 2006 through March 2007, a period of 13 months, 730,000 Iraqis were internally displaced. While there is no reliable consensus on data for ethnic and sectarian refugee movements, it is commonly agreed that the Shi’a have generally fled from the center to the south; the Sunnis from the south to the northern-center; and many Christians from the north into northern Kurdish-controlled territories. The situation is particularly burdensome for minority refugee groups. Palestinian refugees, for instance, were the first to flee from Iraq and are having even more trouble than other refugees in finding a country that will take them in.
The Role of the United States
Insofar as the U.S. government has chosen to take responsibility for this crisis, it has been through a largely financial role. The government has provided funds to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is the central organization providing funds to both refugees and surrounding countries. Typically, the U.S. government has financed at least a quarter of UNHCR’s yearly budget, and for FY 2007 the U.S. has pledged $18 million of the $60 million requested by UNHCR.
As of March 2007, the United States had resettled only 692 Iraqi refugees, which includes Iraqis who had worked with American forces. This is quite low compared to the United Kingdom, which has resettled over 1,300, and Sweden, which accepted nearly 9,000 refugees in 2006 alone. In February 2007 the United States promised to accept 7,000 refugees by the end of the fiscal year. But by May 2007, only 69 had entered the US.
Moving Forward
The growing Iraqi refugee crisis in the Middle East has the potential to destabilize the region. Iraqi refugees have begun to distress welfare services, increase overpopulation, and create new sectarian conflicts in the countries that offer them refuge. Without proper international intervention to address this crisis, the prospect of a stable and secure Middle East will continue to fade.
The U.S. has a responsibility to the Iraqi refugees and to U.S. allies in the region to help resolve this crisis. As the Center for American Progress’ new Middle East Security Report, “Strategic Reset,” notes: “To fulfill a key moral obligation to the Iraqi people, the United States should increase the number of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons it might accept annually from the current level of 7,000 to 100,000.” Preference should be given to those Iraqis who have aided the U.S. and those who are part of groups that have been specifically targeted by violence, such as religious minorities. At a time when Iraq’s neighbors need to be increasingly engaged in resolving the conflicts there, such a policy could begin to address not only the needs of the refugees but could also relieve some of the destabilizing pressure on these neighbors.
Ian Bomberg, a rising senior at Tufts University, is currently an intern for Middle East Progress, a Center for American Progress project, where he is helping to research and edit the Middle East Bulletin.
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Comments
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Where in the US are the Iraqi refugees being resettled to? I know that Michigan has a strong Iraqi presence already… so much so that one of that Mayor Steenbergh of Warren, Michigan has already issued a statement over the refugee influx. (Link)
I definitely think advocacy groups should beware of the responses from other small, economically stagnant towns. Ian, do you happen to have access to info regarding where refugees are settled? (i know they are given preferences… but not sure how that process works either).
— Suzie Lee - Jul 19, 01:49 PM - #Suzie, I have had difficulty identifying the exact location or resettlement process for the refugee resettlement programs. In line with your post, it seems that many of the incoming refugees will settled in Michigan. While the US promised to accept 7,000 refugees by September it is certain to fall short of that number. It is expected that 2,000 refugees will be resettled in Michigan by the end of the fiscal year.
(Link)
— Ian - Jul 20, 10:46 AM - #