Region | Iraq
Hopes fading for 2m refugees stranded in region
Nearly all support for the refugees is channeled through UNHCR and observers worry that dwindling aid could provoke greater social and economic problems, extremism, and violence among the refugee community.
- By Julien Barnes-Dacey, Christain Science Monitor
- Published: 00:00 November 21, 2009
Damascus: Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, up to 2 million refugees remain stranded in neighbouring countries and fears are rising that international support for them is fading, threatening more long-term regional unrest.
This week Eric Schwartz, the Assistant US Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, made his first regional tour since assuming his position in July and offered a grim assessment while in Damascus.
"This is a critical moment," said Schwartz in an interview on Wednesday. "I am extremely concerned at the inadequate response to the appeals of the UN to support humanitarian assistance to Iraqis."
For 2010 the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria, where up to a million Iraqi refugees reside, requested an operational budget of $166 million.
The agency only secured $55 million in international donations, down from $83 million in 2009. The story is similar elsewhere in the region.
Support
Nearly all support for the refugees is channeled through UNHCR and observers worry that dwindling aid could provoke greater social and economic problems, extremism, and violence among the refugee community.
"The international community wants to believe that things are getting better in Iraq and so it's going to pay less attention to refugees outside the country," said one Western diplomat in Syria speaking on condition of anonymity.
Even as talk about the return of stability to Iraq reverberates internationally, more than 1,000 new refugees continue to register with the UNHCR region-wide every month, roughly matching the number of refugees who return to Iraq or are resettled in third countries. And with Iraqi national elections scheduled for January the potential for renewed instability could provoke a fresh surge.
At the UNHCR headquarters in Damascus hundreds of refugees continue to gather daily desperately seeking assistance. "I have nothing and I really need help," explained Abu Ali, who arrived in Syria from Baghdad just three months ago, escaping continued sectarian violence.
"I had to leave: they say there's security, but on the ground it's a different story. They still kill you because of your ID papers."
Like many of the refugees scattered across the region, Abu Ali, is out of savings and increasingly worried about his plight. Banned by local authorities from seeking employment and unwilling to return home because of continuing violence, UNHCR support remains his only lifeline, says Abu Ali.
Share this article
Popular in News
News Editor's choice
-
Snowed-in workers get time off
'Historic' white-out leaves many without electricity while another storm could be on its way
-
Yanukovich leads by a slim margin
Results show the pro-Russia candidate garnering 48.29% to Tymoshenko's 46.09%
-
Prescott's wife recalls day he admitted to cheating
She talks openly in autobiography of inability to forgive him
