UN report: Iraq is hemorrhaging

Social justice news
December 2006

CRS and USCCB add Advent material to their Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty
British bishops plan Advent in Bethlehem
Humanitarian groups appeal for $3.9 billion in 2007
More dying in Zimbabwe than Darfur says bishop
Record 2005 incarceration numbers make U.S. world's leading jailer
Starbucks and Ethiopia meet over coffee trademarks
UN report: Iraq is hemorrhaging—people
USCCB calls for alternative course in Iraq
USCCB: Secure peace and democracy in Lebanon
USDA drops "hunger" from its annual report

UN report: Iraq is hemorrhaging—people
Iraq is hemorrhaging. The humanitarian crisis which the international community had feared in 2003 is now unfolding. A massive displacement of Iraqis has emerged quietly and without fanfare but the numbers affected are in excess of what many agencies had predicted in 2003.

Since the February 2006 Samarra bombings the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates some 425,000 Iraqis have been displaced. In addition, some two to three thousand Iraqis are leaving per day via neighboring countries as the extent of the humanitarian tragedy becomes obvious.

UNHCR estimates that there are at least 1.6 million Iraqis internally displaced with at least another 1.6 – 1.8 million now in neighboring states. The figures in the immediate neighboring countries are still imprecise, but UNHCR estimates that there are some 700,000 Iraqis in Jordan, 500,000 – 600,000 in Syria, 100,000 in Egypt, 20,000 to 40,000 in Lebanon, 54,000 in Iran and tens of thousands more within the region and further afield. Beyond the mass exodus which has already occurred, population movements show no sign of abating. The needs of IDPs, returnees, refugees, and their host communities are dramatic and to a large extent unmet.

The new waves of sectarian violence and the deteriorating humanitarian situation have equally affected the refugee communities—some 50,000—inside Iraq. Some of them, such as the Palestinians, Syrians, and Iranian refugees, have been targeted in deliberate discrimination and attacks by local communities. It is necessary, as part of a comprehensive protection framework, to ensure their immediate survival and emergency needs, while pursuing more vigorously durable solutions inside and outside of Iraq. The situation is more critical as was demonstrated on 19 October with the murder of five Palestinians and the eviction of thousands more over the last few months.

Population of concern in Iraq
Refugees in Iraq (Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian, Turkish, Sudanese, etc.)	50,000
Returnees in Iraq (2003-2006)	300,000
IDPs in Iraq (6) (# of new IDPs Oct'06)	1,600,000 (425,000)
Stateless (Bidouns, etc.)	130,000
Iraqis in the region (7)
Jordan	500,000 – 700,000
Syria	500,000
Lebanon	25,000 – 40,000
Iran	54,000
Egypt	100,000

UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies are reporting a rapid deterioration in the well-being of those displaced both internally and in neighboring states. Initial coping mechanisms of those displaced and the host communities have been depleted as displacement has taken on a more permanent character. Added to the daily violence is an increasing mortality rate, which is a consequence of the rapidly deteriorating health and social infrastructures. Hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis who are "teetering" on the edge of displacement and who have waited to see an improvement in the situation inside Iraq may also soon be pushed into displacement.

The recent fighting in Baquba and Balad has led to more Iraqi families being forced to move a second time after they had already fled from Baghdad. In addition to the ethnic and sectarian re-engineering, recent inter-sectarian fighting in the south of Iraq illustrates that even if Shi'ia and Sunnis moved to homogeneous areas, they still risk secondary displacement.

If Iraqis cannot find protection and assistance from the daily cycle of violence and revenge killings within Iraq, or in neighboring states, they will increasingly look further a field. While neighboring states have been relatively welcoming to the vast majority of Iraqis tolerance is growing thin and it is likely that regional governments will become increasingly restrictive with regard to entry, stay and access to social services. In the last month Jordan has made it more difficult for Iraqi children to access public schools due to their limited capacities (which has lead to a burden on private schools). UNHCR has also been informed that Syria might be contemplating reducing the entry permit from six to three months.

Where facilities are available the targeting of professionals such as doctors, teachers, computer technicians and even bakers has meant that the skills required to provide basic services are becoming more and more scarce. It is estimated that at least 40 percent of Iraq's professional class has left since 2003. It is hardly surprising therefore that Sweden, for example, has recorded over the last twelve months a four-fold increase in Iraqi asylum applications. The impact of the escalating displacement unless addressed immediately will unfortunately have a long-term impact on the ability of Iraq to recover when stability returns to the country.

Ingredients for more difficulties and challenges for countries in the region to shelter and protect Iraqis are evident. This may lead to possible social unrest and even more significant secondary movements to Europe and other parts of the world. It is therefore critical for the international community to respond urgently to alleviate some of the social costs of the hundreds of thousands of increasingly vulnerable Iraqis in Iraq and the region.

Back to page top