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IRAQ: Forecasts of Massive Refugee Flows Miss the Mark, So Far

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Mar 21 2003 (IPS) - Calm prevailed along Iraq’s borders through the second day of hostilities, with the exception of the southern frontier with Kuwait, where U.S. and British forces penetrated Iraqi territory Friday.

The United Nations of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that counter to predictions, its representatives in the area have not reported massive movements of refugees towards Iraq’s neighbouring countries.

The only movement has involved people from other countries who were in Iraq as immigrants, but "they were not refugees," explained Kris Janowski, UNHCR spokesman in Geneva.

Some 470 immigrants – from Egypt, Yemen, Somalia, Chad and Eritrea – have crossed the Iraq border into Jordan since Wednesday, the eve of the U.S. led military offensive.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says these citizens from other countries are being housed temporarily at a camp in Rwashed, some 50 km from the Jordan-Iraq border.

The IOM, in conjunction with the Jordan Red Crescent Society, are attending to needs at the Rwashed camp, reports Niurka Piñeiro, IOM representative in Geneva.

Meanwhile, for Iraqi refugees, a different camp has been prepared under the supervision of the UNHCR and the Jordanian Hashemite Charity Society.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) confirmed Friday that so far no Iraqi national has crossed the border into Jordan.

People of other nationalities who reside in Iraq, however, are heading to Jordanian territory, said an IFRC source.

Twenty percent of the arrivals so far have been children. All are reported to be in relatively good health, with just a handful of cases suffering respiratory infections.

Because nighttime temperatures in the desert areas of Iraq and surrounding countries drop below freezing, the IFRC is distributing additional supplies of blankets and kerosene.

There have been no movements reported along the Iranian border of persons associated with the military actions of the past two days.

Janowski said the rumours that Iranian officials denied 300 to 3,000 people from Iraq entry into that country had proved false.

He noted that officials in Iran had previously announced their intention to close the border if a military conflict erupted in neighbouring Iraq.

But the top authorities of that country assured UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, that they would allow refugees entry if their lives are in danger.

The two days of U.S.-led military action have not involved much beyond the intense bombardment of Baghdad and clashes in southern Iraq, where invading ground troops entered the country.

Friday night, the U.S.-British push reached the gates of Basra, Iraq’s second city. The attacking forces said they captured some 200 prisoners among the Iraqi troops.      One U.S. soldier died in the clashes. Twelve others – British and U.S. – died when their helicopter crashed in a non-conflict accident.

Reports on the numbers of Iraqi civilian and military casualties have been vague.

Immediately after hostilities began, Lubbers issued an appeal to the governments of Iraq’s neighbours to keep their borders open to all people needing protection and assistance.

The UNHCR, which attends to some 21 million people worldwide, expressed concern Friday about the way the United States is treating Arab or Muslim people who are considered refugees or who are seeking asylum.

Lubbers said that measures intended to protect U.S. civilians and national security should not be used against persons fleeing persecution and seeking safe haven in the United States.

Lubbers’s letter to U.S. authorities alludes to “Operation Liberty Shield”, which authorises the automatic and extended detention of arriving asylum-seekers from 30 countries and territories.

Janowski notes that these measures are aimed at asylum seekers primarily of Arab and Muslim origin.

Nevertheless, according to figures supplied by the UNHCR, the United States is the most open of industrialised nations in terms of recognising the status of refugees and asylum seekers from Iraq.

Of the 3,600 applications filed in t he 1997-2001 period, the U.S. government accepted 3,040 Iraqi refugees, an 84-percent average.

In contrast, Italy received 13,600 applications but accepted only 970, or seven percent. Germany, in absolute terms, leads the way in granting asylum to Iraqis, approving 33,670 requests, or 57 percent.