Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Overview

Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Overview
By Human Rights First

An Iraqi boy waits for his mother to collect food aid from a church in Damascus, Syria. March, 2007. According to Oxfam, nearly 1/3 of all Iraqis are in need of emergency assistance.
More than 2.2 million Iraqi refugees have fled from persecution and violence in Iraq, mostly to Jordan and Syria, but also to other countries. Another 2 million more are displaced within Iraq.
Some have fled from religious or ethnic persecution. Others have been targeted because of their professions or because of their work for the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations or the media. Iraqis who have served as translators for the U.S. forces, for example, have been attacked and threatened. The US Department of Labor has recorded the deaths of more than 280 translators for a single contractor. Also in danger are Palestinian refugees who had been living for years in Iraq, but are now the target of attacks.

Many have been unable to flee the country, as neighboring countries have sometimes refused entry to those who are trying to escape from Iraq. Although Jordan was once the refuge of choice for many middle class professionals, in January 2007 Jordan closed its borders to virtually all Iraqi refugees. In recent months, Lebanon has also tightened restrictions on Iraqi refugees and detained and deported some Iraqis. While neither state has signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or its Protocol, under customary international law, all nations are obligated to refrain from returning refugees to persecution.

For those who make it to Jordan, Syria or other states, their difficulties are far from over. Both Jordan and Syria have been overwhelmed by the large numbers of refugees. Iraqi refugees in exile face many problems, including deportation, detention, lack of food, housing and other aid, lack of security, lack of education and various kinds of exploitation.

On June 19, 2007 U.S. Senators Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduced a bi-partisan bill, called the "Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act," which would extend a lifeline to some of Iraq's most vulnerable refugees and displaced people, including those who have worked with the U.S. government, the U.S. media or U.S. non-governmental groups. The bill will:

Allow persecuted Iraqis with close work or family ties to the United States to apply directly for resettlement in the United States.
Create 5,000 special visas for Iraqis who worked directly with the United States and call for protection of those who are in imminent danger of death.
Ask the Secretary of State to work with refugee-hosting countries to develop long-term solutions and aid packages to help the vast majority of the Iraqi refugees who will remain in the region.

After fleeing violence in Baghdad in March, 2007, these refugees had been camping in no-man's land on the Iraqi-Jordanian border for weeks until Syria finally agreed to take them in. Syria is hosting between 1.5 – 2 million Iraqi refugees.
The U.S. Response to the Refugee Crisis

At a January 16, 2007 oversight hearing on "The Plight of Iraqi Refugees," Senator Kennedy expressed concern that the United States admitted only 202 Iraqi refugees to the country during the last fiscal year and that a special immigrant visa program for Iraqi and Afghan translators already had a six-year wait list.

On February 14, 2007, the United States State Department announced that the U.S. would:

resettle 7,000 Iraqi refugees in the United States through its resettlement program;

create special programs (including through legislation) to assist Iraqis who are at risk because of their employment or close association with the United States government;

contribute $18 million to the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees, as well as provide other aid; and

engage the governments in the region, thanking them for their assistance and encouraging them to uphold the principle of first asylum.
But so far, the U.S. Refugee Program has brought only a handful of Iraqi refugees to the United States, and much more assistance is needed to ensure the safety and protection of Iraqi refugees and those displaced within Iraq. As of July 31st, the United States had resettled only 190 Iraqi refugees since October 2006. More than half of the 190 were backlogged cases of refugees who fled Iraq long before the 2003 war started.


Iraqi refugee family waits to register at the U.N. Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) centre in the Douma, Syria. In 2007, UNCHR requested $124 million to respond to the humanitarian crisis.
Asylum Hurdles and Families Divided

Some Iraqi refugees have sought refuge in Europe and the United States. Only a small number have made it to the United States. In fiscal year 2006, only 511 Iraqis filed for asylum in the United States. These asylum seekers can face the same hurdles that plague refugees in the asylum process, including detention in U.S. immigration jails. Once granted asylum, they face the tremendous difficulty of bringing their families to safety in this country.

Read UN Statistics: 22,200 Iraqis seek asylum in industrial countries



Desperate Situation for Embassy Employees

On July 7th U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker described the persecution of the Iraqis working for the United States in a cable to the State Department. He said his local staff members were "targets for violence, including murder and kidnapping." Amb. Crocker urged the Administration to consider granting special immigrant visas to all Iraqis working for the U.S Government. He stated "we believe they should all be treated equally; and we should reward [our Iraqi staff] for their sacrifice, loyalty, and dedication..."