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REFUGEES-IRAQ: The Hidden Face of the War
By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Apr 18 (IPS) - The United Nations was able, at least for a few
hours, to draw public attention away from the bombings and attacks that
have become routine in Iraq and direct it towards another, equally
painful, aspect of the conflict - the humanitarian crisis suffered by
nearly four million refugees and internally displaced persons.
The U.N. effort to highlight the drastic conditions faced by Iraqi
refugees was only relatively successful, however, as Wednesday, the second
day of its two-day conference on their humanitarian needs, was one of the
bloodiest days in Iraq since the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Media reports indicated that an estimated 170 people were killed by four
bombs Wednesday in Iraq, where an average of 100 civilians were killed
daily in 2006, according to figures from the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC).
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said the
international community has now taken note of the gravity of the crisis
and has committed itself to protecting and assisting Iraqis displaced by
the violence and to sharing the burden of that effort.
The Apr. 17-18 conference in Geneva drew 450 delegates from more than 60
nations, including members of civil society organisations.
However, there are no plans to move some two million Iraqi refugees, most
of whom are in countries bordering Iraq. For example, more than one
million have fled across the border to Syria and around 750,000 to Jordan.
Industrialised nations ruled out the possibility of taking in groups of
Iraqi asylum seekers, and merely expressed a willingness to provide
financial support for Syria and Jordan.
But Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at the New York-based Human
Rights Watch, called for special assistance from the United States and
Britain, the two main allies in the military coalition that invaded Iraq
four years ago.
On one hand they should "provide money to help build schools and health
infrastructure to allow people to live in dignity in Syria and Jordan in
particular, but in other countries as well in the region, like Lebanon and
Egypt," Frelick told IPS.
He also said there should be a "human sharing of responsibility, and that
involves resettlement for refugees."
So far, the United States has indicated that it is willing to resettle
7,000 refugees, but "in fact the number that they actually are going to
take this year will probably be less than half of that amount," said the
activist, who added that "the UK has made no commitment of that sort at
all."
Sarah Orr, an expert with the non-governmental London Detainee Support
Group, objected to the British government's policy of detaining asylum
seekers instead of allowing them to live in the community.
She told IPS that this occurs "because there is a lot of pressure and
unhappiness in Britain over people immigrating into the country."
"So you can imagine people coming to Britain, really traumatised by whatever
they went through at home, and basically ending up as 'prisoners'", Orr
added.
"A high proportion of the people that are being detained in the UK's 10
detention centres are Iraqis - about 30 percent, I think. Some people are
detained there for three months, some people for six months," she said.
No decision had been reached by the end of the conference on the status of
the groups of refugees who were in Iraq prior to the invasion, especially
that of some 15,000 Palestinians, whom Guterres described as being in a
"dramatic situation."
Civil society sources said that the United States is trying to interest
Latin American governments in granting asylum to groups of Palestinian
refugees from Iraq.
The U.S. delegation at the conference admitted that its government has
already made contact with the Brazilian authorities towards that end.
Conference participants acknowledged that Iraq's main problem is violence,
and that the solution required "is political, not humanitarian," as
Guterres said.
ICRC director general Angelo Gnaedinger admitted that humanitarian action
"does not address the root causes of the current dramatic situation in
Iraq."
However, Guterres emphasised the Iraqi government's willingness to support
its citizens in exile by setting up offices in the capitals of Syria and
Jordan.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari recognised that "more and more
people are fleeing daily, especially academics, doctors, scientists,
engineers, civil servants and businessmen."
In spite of the circumstances, Guterres said that "local integration of
such large numbers of Iraqis (two million refugees) in countries of asylum
is not an option, and resettlement must give priority to the most
vulnerable."
During the conference, participants stressed that the preferred solution
for the overwhelming majority of refugees is voluntary return to their own
country. But, realistically, conditions for this are not yet in place,
Guterres said.
Before the Geneva conference, there was a global conspiracy to keep silent
about the humanitarian dimensions of the crisis in Iraq, said the U.N.
High Commissioner. Only the attacks and suicide bombings were seen, but
not the refugees, he said.
But profound concern for the internal situation in Iraq was expressed
during the sessions, and the Iraqi government and all the parties involved
were called upon to seek a solution based on national reconciliation, he
added.
The UNHCR will designate a representative in Baghdad, a post which has
remained vacant since August 2003, when a blast destroyed its office
building there and killed 22 employees, including the chief of mission,
Sergio Vieira de Mello of Brazil. (END/2007)
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