EPIC Guest Blogger: Ken Bacon on U.S. Resettlement of Iraqi Refugees

Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, is our guest blogger today. He outlines a more honorable U.S. policy toward Iraqi refugees.

It’s too early to cheer, but after months of delay and disappointment, the U.S. is beginning to admit more Iraqi refugees for resettlement here.

In June, 63 Iraqi refugees arrived in the U.S., bringing to 133 the number of Iraqis resettled in the first nine months of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. This is still a very small number compared to the State Department’s various announcements that it was prepared to resettle from 7,000 to 20,000 Iraqis this year.

The hold up has been the Department of Homeland Security, which has moved slowly to issue its security protocols for processing Iraqis and getting interview teams into the field.

But resettlement will deal with only a small corner of the Iraqi displacement problem. An estimated 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes to escape violence in Iraq. Of the total, 2 million are internally displaced in Iraq, and 2.2 million are refugees, living primarily in Syria and Jordan.

Yesterday, I appeared on a panel at the Middle East Institute with Nir Rosen, an author and analyst who has spent a lot of time in Iraq and surrounding countries. Earlier this year he went to Northern Iraq and Egypt as a consultant for Refugees International. Nir noted that countries throughout the Middle East fear that Iraqis will become another population like the Palestinians—displaced, disenfranchised and potentially radicalized.

The possible radicalization of Iraqi refugees would be a disaster for the U.S. Not only would we be blamed for contributing to another destabilizing force in the Middle East, the U.S., Israel and our allies could be targeted by a newly radicalized group. For this reason, the U.S. needs a better, more aggressive and more generous policy for dealing with Iraqi refugees.

First, we need to do much more to help Jordan, Syria and other host countries bear the burden of Iraqi refugees. The State Department is starting to help host governments build and staff schools for Iraqi children, but the program is limited. In Jordan, there are an estimated 250,000 Iraqi children of school age, yet by some estimates, only 14,000 are in school. How are the rest spending their time? What will they and their families think of the U.S.? We also need to bolster the infrastructure for medical care and provide food and other support, where necessary.

Second, we need to help meet the needs of displaced families in Iraq. Many are cut off from the Public Distribution System—the government food rations on which most Iraqi families depend—when they move. We should work with the Iraqi government to make sure that no displaced families are left out.

Third, we need to step up our resettlement program so that more of the highly vulnerable Iraqis—particularly those who worked for the U.S.—can be protected. Every year, the U.S. sets a goal for the number of refugees it plans to admit. This year’s goal is 70,000. At the end of the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the U.S. had admitted 24,536. This gives us 45,000 more spaces to fill in the next three months, and most of those should go to Iraqis. Then, next year, we should lift that goal.

If we fail to help Iraqi refugees now, we could be paying the price for years to come.

Iraqi Refugees and the Administration's (Lack of) Response

Military preemption and unilateral action are the centerpieces of the Bush Doctrine, a policy that has landed our country in the deadly quagmire that is Iraq. Having prompted a civil war, it follows that the United States bears the moral responsibility for handling the humanitarian situation and, by extension, the regional refugee crisis.

The Iraq Study Group says the U.S. should “take the lead in funding assistance requests from the UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies.” Rather than tackling the refugee problem directly, U.S. embassies do rely on the UNHCR’s referrals for immigration. But of the 3,000 UNHCR referrals, the U.S. has taken only 68 since the beginning of fiscal year 2007 (as I mentioned in my last entry).

Do a bit of research and you will find that, in nearly every way the U.S. could help Iraqi refugees, the government has fallen severely short. Even regarding Iraqis who have assisted the U.S. military and embassies - who seemingly everyone agrees should be a priority--we have set too low a standard. Murthy Law Firm notes that special immigration visas for translators were capped at fifty per fiscal year. This quota was reached just over a month after the beginning of fiscal year 2007.

The refugee crisis is all the more urgent given that Iraq’s neighbors are beginning to make flight from Iraq more difficult and, in some cases, are turning Iraqis back at the border. According to Refugees International and Human Rights Watch, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are placing increasing entry requirements for Iraqis. Syria and Jordan have taken in far more Iraqis than any other country in the Middle East, but new restrictions leave fewer options for those in greatest need.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) number at 800,000 since February 2006 alone. A March 2007 Congressional Research Service report notes, “Iraq’s internal population displacement appears to be accelerating into a humanitarian crisis that is well beyond the current capacity on the ground.”

In particular, it appears the Department of Homeland Security has fallen short. The DHS, which gives the final green light for refugees to immigrate, “has yet to come up with a new screening process so that refugees can be vetted for security purposes,” says Al Kamen in today’s Washington Post. Kenneth Bacon, President of Refugees International, adds, “Until this is a top-level government concern, not much is going to happen.”

The U.S. has begun acknowledging its obligation toward Iraqi refugees. As I wrote in my last entry, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3, right) proposed legislation to bring 20,000 Iraqis into the country this year. Bills such as this represent the first step in addressing the refugee crisis. There remains much work to be done in other parts of government. The Department of Homeland Security must, at very least, determine its new screening protocol and make the immigration process as efficient as possible while still maintaining security. The government also needs to earmark more than the meager $100 million promised for refugees by Paula Dobriansky, and much more than the $17 million appropriated for IDPs. Finally, the U.S. needs to work closely on the ground with the UNHCR, Iraq and its neighbors to alleviate this crisis.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3) (EPIC Photo/Chris Breuer - 5/10/07)

New ICRC Report on Iraq

The International Red Cross Committee just released a report produced over the last three weeks about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Here are some excerpts:

'''Once I was called to an explosion site,''' it quotes, Saad, a young Baghdad humanitarian worker as saying. '''There I saw a 4-year-old boy sitting beside his mother's body, which had been decapitated by the explosion. He was talking to her, asking her what had happened.'''
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"The plight of Iraqi civilians is a daily reminder of the fact that there has long been a failure to respect their lives and dignity."

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''Humanitarian aid is clearly not enough when it comes to addressing the immense needs of Iraqis in the present disastrous security situation.''

The beginning of the report briefly mentions the reliance of many families on government distribution and reported food shortages. Refugees International, in a policy brief released yesterday, documents the decrepit public distribution system and how several problems, including a lack of integrity among Iraq's politicians, are contributing to food shortages, particularly in the Kurdish north.

You can read "Civilians Without Protection: The Ever-worsening Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq," the full 8-page Red Cross report here.

And They Suffer in the South Too...

Last week I discussed the difficulties internally displaced people (IDP's) were having in the Kurdish north of Iraq; entry restrictions are strict, cost of living is prohibitively high and little to no aid is allocated for those who have fled their homes with little more than the clothes on their back.

Unfortunatly, the Refugees International report I referenced is one of the only places in which the IDP situation is discussed at length. Most U.S., U.N. and even Iraqi institutions fail to even acknowledge that there is an IDP crisis.

The RI report, however, seems to have created a little bit of momentum. Yesterday IraqSlogger published a piece detailing the plight of IDP's in the south of Iraq. According to local officials in the southern provinces, there are nearly a million displaced people in urgent need of food, medicines and municipal services. And unlike the Kurdish north, which is protected by its own security forces, much of the south is plagued by violence. Thus even though aid may be available, often times it cannot be delivered due to security concerns. The south is also considerably poorer than the north and so can offer few jobs to the massive influx of IDP's.

Fareed Abbas, a spokesman for Najaf-based NGO the Muslim Organisation for Peace (MOP), said the central government was unwilling to provide sufficient funds to develop sanitation, education and electricity projects in the southern provinces:

“We have appealed dozens of times to the central government to help in such critical circumstances but we haven’t got any response yet. Instead, over the past few months, their assistance has decreased considerably, leaving people without support and infrastructure."

Dr. Aziz Ali Baroud, a physician at Najaf Main Hospital, explains that the health care system cannot cope with the dramatic increase in people:

“At least one person dies in our hospital every day due to lack of assistance or medicines. If you add all the people dying for the same reason in all the hospitals in the southern provinces, the number becomes very serious."

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Only recently did the U.S. and international community acknowledge the refugees crisis. It took intense lobbying, multiple public awareness campaigns, tens of op-eds and several Congressional hearings, but eventually the scope and implications of the crisis were appreciated by one and all: The State Department created a displacement task force, the U.S. upped its quota for accepting Iraqi refugees, the Senate included $65 million in their version of the supplemental to deal with the crisis and the international community collectively provided millions more.

With tens of thousands of Iraqis being displaced within Iraq every month, I can only hope that it will not take as long to begin effectively addressing the crisis now that people are becoming aware of its scope. It is a good sign, however, that the Senate version of the supplemental provides $65 million for just Iraqi IDP's alone. We can only hope that whatever ultimately happens to the Senate version -veto or no veto- this provision makes it through to the final spending bill.

"Iraqi Volunteers, Iraqi Refugees: What is America's Obligation?"

I went to a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia hearing yesterday concerning the plight of the millions of displaced Iraqis, both within and outside Iraq. The panelists testimonies covered a number of topics: personal stories of Iraqi civilians who have aided the U.S. and therefore are facing extreme danger; the millions of Iraqis living outside of the country and the humanitarian crisis in which they find themselves; the challenges lawmakers must confront in backing legislation that funds acceleration of the resettlement process; as well as the need for the U.S. to finally come to terms with the humanitarian catastrophe in Iraq and accept the moral responsibility of addressing it.

The first panel consisted of Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. The second panel was made up of Major General Paul D. Eaton; George Packer, staff writer at The New Yorker; Kristele Younes, refugee advocate at Refugees International; and a former employee of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad who, for security purposes, had to go by the alias "Sarah."

The common theme of the hearing was that it has taken the Administration and lawmakers far too long to acknowledge and address the suffering of displaced Iraqis, especially those who have risked their lives by working with American and Coalition forces. Assistant Secretary Sauerbrey attempted to explain why admitting Iraqi refugees into the U.S. is such a lengthy process and why the Administration has not taken legislative or monetary steps to provide relief and safety for the 3.9 million displaced Iraqis. She explained that the Presidential determination for resettlement this year is 70,000 inclusive, and that 10% of that--or 7,000 spots--is designated for Iraqis. Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, suggested that 7,000 is UNHCR's capacity for processing refugees, not ours. He went on to state that there is a nonpartisan consensus that the problem should be addressed and that questions should be asked.

Chairman Gary L. Ackerman of New York agreed, stating that if lawmakers and the Administration were serious about processing Iraqi refugees it could be done. Sauerbrey argued that since 9/11, and the Immigration of Nationality Act, the process has gotten much longer for Homeland Security to conduct security clearances. Four to six months is the average length of time for someone to go through the process of asylum.

Many obstacles are facing Iraqis as they seek refuge. For example, there is no way of processing IDPs for resettlement; they must first leave Iraq under extremely dangerous conditions and then apply through UNHCR in a neighboring country. If someone has paid a ransom for a kidnapped family member, or paid off the insurgency for their own lives, the U.S. considers this "providing material support to terrorists"and the individuals will not be granted visas under the provisions of the PATRIOT and Real ID Acts. Iraqis who worked or are still working with the U.S. are not allowed housing in the Green Zone, and no protection is given to them. Only 500 Special Immigrant Visas are given a year, and only to direct hires of the government; this is not including the countless Iraqis who worked for contractors and subcontractors.

Major General Eaton explained that 70,000 Chinese and 80,000 Indian immigrants were accepted into the United States in 2006. He urged lawmakers to immediately identify Iraqis who have helped the U.S. and grant them asylum, regardless of quotas. George Packer argued that, "We cannot allow more Iraqis to die while we fine-tune refugee settlement." His first recommendation was to make in-country processing available, or at the very least, to ensure safe transfer to neighboring countries. Kristele Younes warned lawmakers that the problem stretches farther than Iraqis who have aided U.S. efforts; the millions living in Syria and Jordan, and those displaced within the country should not be forgotten. She urged an increase in funding for local Iraqi and International NGOs, as well as fully endorsing UNHCR recommendations.

"Sarah" relayed her personal story of working with the U.S. and being hopeful that she would be a part of the liberation and democratization of Iraq. She now lives in Jordan, unable to return to her home in Iraq. She did not receive protection while working for the CPA, and was eventually fired when her job was given to a Jordanian citizen. Today, "Sarah" lives in fear, with nowhere to go; she is considered by many of her countrymen to be a traitor and a spy. She said that she does not regret having worked with the Americans in Iraq, only that she trusted the U.S. government, but they never trusted Iraqis.

Real initiatives must be taken to address the plight of the 3.9 million displaced Iraqis. General Eaton asked that our government act with the dignity and respect that the Iraqi people deserve. Chairman Ackerman explained that:

If the world's only superpower cannot protect Iraqis from the danger we put them in, then we are facing a bigger problem than I thought.

He stated that there must be funding and legislation put forth to back the rhetoric of concern coming from the Administration.

The Internal Refugees

Our friends at Refugees International have just released a report based on a two-week assessment mission in the Kurdish areas of N. Iraq undertaken by RI Advocate Kristele Younes and journalist Nir Rosen. Of late much of the focus on the displacement crisis has centered on the refugee crisis. So while we often hear of the difficulties Iraqis have finding refuge in neighboring countries, no one has really discussed difficulties internally displaced Iraqis have.

As one of the most secure areas in Iraq (due mostly to the fact that it is protected by its own security forces) Kurdistan is a very popular destination for internal refugees; but getting there is not easy. They must first pass through multiple security checkpoints and then provide the name of a guarantor, a "Kurdish resident of one of the the three Northern Governorates, who can attest to the morality and identity of the displaced." Even so, single Arab men are rarely allowed in, and Muslim Arabs in general have a much harder time getting in than Christians or Kurds.

The problems, however, do not stop once allowed through. Though the security situation is certainly more stable in the Kurdish north, internal refugees face dire economic prospects. Most are unable to find work and are thus unable to keep up with the high cost of living in this region. A Sunni Arab woman from Baghdad told Refugees International that she and her husband had decided to return to Baghdad with their two children despite the threats they had received for being Sunni. “My husband can’t find work here, and the rent is too expensive. Everything is cheaper in Baghdad. God will protect us, I hope.” This is just incredible.

While the situation of Iraq's IDP's continues to deteriorate, no Iraqi, U.S. or U.N. institution has to actually mount an effective response. Why? Because they don't even really acknowledge it as an issue. The report goes on to say, "In fact, the Iraqi Government’s refusal to declare a humanitarian crisis is leading donors to question whether their funds are really needed to assist the displaced." The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR ), which has primary responsibility for the displaced people in the Kurdish and southern regions only has about $9 million to spend on the this year. RI quotes a UNHCR official as saying, “If we were looking at responding to real needs, then even $150 million would not be enough.”

We have made some small steps in dealing with the refugee problem, but have yet to even begin to address the IDP crisis. Hopefully this will report will motivate the U.S., U.N. and even Iraqi institutions to take the problem seriously.
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UPDATE: You can hear Kristele Younes, one of the authors of the report, discussing the IDP crisis on NPR's Morning Edition.

Humanitarians Assist Marginalized Groups in Iraq, Media Doesn't Report

When it comes to the media, there is a saying that goes "If it bleeds, it leads." Unfortunately, reporting on Iraq typically fits the bill all too easily.

While stories conveying the latest body count, roadside bomb and sectarian killing have their place, reporting that continuously harps on these topics does not represent the truth about Iraq or its people. In fact, it leaves out one key point: the message of hope.

Take for example, a recent BBC report about the Sabian Mandaeans of Iraq, who believe in Adam, Noah, and John the Baptist but not in Muhammad, and are being persecuted for their religious beliefs. The report says that Sabian Mandaeans find themselves in an increasingly threatened position as they become pariahs in a conflict in which even members of the same religion do not spare each other from terrible acts of violence.

A disturbing story indeed, filled with many disturbing facts. But more disturbing than the content itself is what the story leaves out: hope for a chance to improve the situation. While the story is factual, it is not accurate. And sadly, its one-sided approach perpetuates feelings of hopelessness and breeds public apathy. It temps you to think, "It's all so terrible that nothing can be done to make things better. Why should we even bother trying? The problem is simply too big, the facts simply too overwhelming."

With this in mind, here are two EPIC Ground Truth Project interviews that provide a new perspective on Iraq--or, as we like to think of it, 'the ground truth:'

Khaldoon Ali talks about the harsh realities facing the Roma (a.k.a. Gypsies) of Iraq that ultimately compelled him to found Mercy Hands, an on-the-ground Iraqi aid organization:

"When Saddam’s regime fell, the Roma people became targets of violence and the new Iraqi government stripped them of their privileges. Today, the Roma are often forced to sell alcohol and prostitute themselves in order to survive.

"After I realized that no one was helping the Roma, I pleaded with many international humanitarian organizations to help. Unfortunately, this was in 2004, when many international NGOs started to leave Iraq. Eventually Première Urgence, the NGO I worked for, decided to reduce its mission, as well, but they encouraged me to establish a local NGO of my own."

Sean Garcia of Refugees International discusses the chances of congressional action that will help to ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Iraq:

"We are in a very positive moment right now with the new Congress. We have gotten a very warm reception on Capitol Hill from the leadership and from congressmen and women interested in Iraq, and there’s clearly a willingness on the part of Congress to increase funding to address the situation. "

The humanitarians featured in these two interviews give us genuine hope for the future of Iraq and its people.

"Iraq is now a democracy, there is no reason to flee"

Yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the "Plight of Iraqi Refugees" was really quite unusual in that it actually had some teeth; the senators refused to sugar-coat anything, getting to the heart of the matter in each of their questions, and the witnesses responded in kind.

As might be expected the most fascinating testimonies came from two Iraqis who had worked with coalition forces in Iraq and have been granted asylum in the U.S. They each go into detail describing the threats they faced on a daily basis. Just one example from "John" whose identity was concealed for security purposes:

"I went to work delivering water to the Americans along with my son. At about 9 o'clock that mooring, we saw what appeared to be a road blockade ahead. Before we could realize what was happening, my son and I were dragged out of the cab of our truck. We were positioned face down on the side of the road by a group of terrorists."

I could not make out the identity of these men but they were heavily armed and were wearing green bandanas decorated with the three-stars from the Iraqi flag. They kept saying to me, "Don't work with the Americans," and one of them struck me in the face with the butt of his gun permanently damaging jaw. Another man twisted my son's arm so severely that he broke it. They knew my name and instructed me that this was a warning and that I would be killed if I continued assisting the Americans. After they made their threat they departed, leaving us bloodied on the side of the road. [full testimony]"

And the remarkable thing is, after the attack, John went on delivering water for the Americans. Thousands of Iraqis like John are risking their lives to help coalition forces and hundreds of thousands of others are threatened due to the conditions the U.S. has created in Iraq, so you would think that the least the U.S. can do is accept Iraq refugees. However, as Ellen Sauerbrey, the Assistant Secretary of State Population, Refugees and Migration, testified, only 466 Iraqis have been granted refuge in the U.S. Meanwhile Syria has an open border policy and has accepted hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees, despite their being an enormous strain on its economy and with little assistance from the international community.

Why hasn't the U.S. accepted more refugees? After all, it can be argued that the U.S. is primarily responsible for the refugee crisis. Simply put, the U.S. administration has chosen to deny that there is such an ongoing crisis. This is what the U.S. government told Lisa Ramaci-Vincent when she tried to get an Iraq translator into America; "Iraq is now a democracy, there is no reason to flee." The administration believes, and perhaps rightly so, that acknowledging the refugee crisis would be tantamount to admitting failure in Iraq. Sean Garcia of Refugees International noted in his own conversations with State Dept. officials that:

many are reluctant to say, 'These are refugee flows, these are people fleeing the chaos.' Rather, they just acknowledge that people are leaving Iraq, but claim that they don’t know why.

Because Iraq is now a democracy, there is no reason to flee.

To read the testimonies of each witness including a very interesting statement on the international effort to address the crisis from Michel Gabaudan, Regional the Representative for the U.S. and Caribbean Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees go here.

All in all, I think Ken Bacon, the President of Refugees International sums it up pretty well: "While we don’t yet know how to stabilize Iraq, we do know how to protect and support refugees. We must start now."

Couple more links
* NPR has also recently began highlighting the refugee crisis with an interview with Sen. Kennedy, and a story on an Iraqi translator trying to leave the U.S.

* "As refugees flee Iraq, few gain sanctuary in U.S." in The International Herald Tribune

* "Iraq's Hidden Refugee Crisis: An Interview with Sean Garcia" conducted by the Education for Peace in Iraq Center

Webcast of Senate Hearing on Refugee Crisis

At 2pm Eastern time, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be webcasting their hearing on "The Plight of Iraqi Refugees." The panel was put together by Sen. Kennedy who should be commended for publicizing this oft-neglected issue. For background on the crisis, I suggest you read an interview with Advocate Sean Garcia of Refugees International.

Hopefully this hearing will get the administration to begin addressing the crisis; Bush fails to even acknowledge the crisis in his new Iraq plan nor does it appear in the weekly State Dept. reports on Iraq.

Witnesses are:
Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary of State Population, Refugees and Migration;
Sami, Former Translator for the U.S. Military;
John, Former Truck Driver (subcontractor) for the U.S. Military;
Captain Zachary J. Iscol, Foreign Military Training Unit;
Lisa Ramaci-Vincent, Executive Director, Steven Vincent Foundation;
Ken Bacon, President, Refugees International;
Michel Gabaudan, Regional Representative for the U.S. and Caribbean, Office of the UNHCR.

Watch the webcast here: http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=2470

The Refugee Crisis and Iraq's Academics

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs just put out a brief report on the exodus of academics from Iraq.

"According to the Ministry of Higher Education, at least 280 academics have been killed since the US-led invasion in 2003 by insurgents and militias...The targeting of such academics is generating a mess in our country. The health and educational systems are depleted of good professionals. Nearly one third of those living in Iraq before 2003 have fled violence," said Dr. Mustafa Jaboury, a research investigator at the Ministry of Higher Education.

"Shi'ite militias and Sunni insurgents are killing intellectuals to ensure Iraq is poorly managed and poorly governed," Jaboury added...Experts have raised concerns saying that if professionals continue fleeing Iraq on a daily basis the country will be depleted of academics and the level of education in Iraq will drop drastically.

"By removing those groups [of people such as intellectuals], the insurgents are aiming to eliminate all support for a democratic society. And militias hope that by targeting academics Iraq will become theocratic like Iran," said Paul Colley, a London-based independent analyst.

For more on the refugee crisis, be sure to read EPIC's interview with Sean Garcia of Refugees International.

Iraq's Refugee Crisis

The Education for Peace in Iraq Center has just released an interview with Advocate Sean Garcia of Refugees International. EPIC talked with Mr. Garcia following his return from a month-long visit to Amman, Damascus and Beirut, where he witnessed the alarming challenges facing Iraqi refugees and their host nations with no relief in sight.

Despite the role that U.S. actions have played in creating the crisis, the Bush administration has failed to even acknowledge it as a serious humanitarian emergency. As recently as last week, the State Department’s weekly report on Iraq does not even include a line-item on emergency relief for displaced Iraqis.

Here is a brief excerpt. The complete interview can be found here.

"epic: How have Iraqi refugees been received by the governments and locals of neighboring countries?

Sean: It differs from country to country. In general, their reception by the locals in all three locations is still somewhat warm, but their welcome is quickly being worn out. For example we heard complaints from many Syrians about Iraqi refugees who are draining limited economic resources. They told us that they feel for Iraqi refugees and their difficult situation but they do not want any more to come. In Jordan, we found a similar level of sympathy, but they too complained about Iraqi refugees driving-up real estate prices and overwhelming the school systems. So the local populations are getting fed-up with the stresses that the refugees are putting on their economy.

At the government level we found varying responses. In Syria, Iraqi refugees are still welcome, but only for a limited time. The Syrian government lets people into the country but only grants three month visas. They are also scaling back the availability of free public services to Iraqi refugees. For example, in January 2005 the government said that it can no longer provide Iraqis with free healthcare, as it does for the entire Syrian population.

Jordan has gotten a lot more extreme. We have been hearing lately that the Jordanian government is increasingly closing its borders, and that men between the ages of 18-35 have been turned away due to terrorist concerns. Because the three hotel bombings in Amman in November 2005 were perpetrated by Iraqi citizens, Jordan has decided to eliminate worry by labeling Iraqi men between the ages of 18-35 as terrorists. This is a huge problem because we are finding that inside Iraq men between these ages are the greatest targets of violence..."

Iraq's Refugee Crisis

Refugees International (RI), a respected refugees advocacy group, has just posted a brief survey documenting the human costs of displacement and the lack of an adequate international response. They echo the sentiments of policy experts such as Ken Pollack and Dan Byman, noting that the violence in Iraq is creating a refugee crisis that is exporting instability to the entire region.

Every Iraqi who can, has already left or as an Iraqi journalist chillingly puts it:

"Iraqis who are unable to flee the country are now in a queue, waiting their turn to die."

RI recommends that the US lead an international initiative to support Middle East countries hosting Iraqi civilians, and that donors increase support to UNHCR. If allowed to continue unchecked, the refugee crisis can only continue to grow as a threat to the Middle East.

RI has also posted several stories of Iraqi refugees that are truly heart-wrenching; Putting a human face on a crisis that has thus far been represented mainly by figures in the morning news. Here is one story in full:

"In August 2006, Ali was driving from Beirut to Baghdad and was stopped by a militant group near Fallujah.He was kidnapped when his Iraqi papers were reviewed and identified him as a Shi’ite religious leader.He was then sold to a Sunni militia, where he awaited execution with dozens of other Shi’a, told by his captors that killing a Shi’a got them closer to heaven.After two months in captivity, the Iraqi National Guard raided the compound, freeing Ali.He returned to Lebanon in November of this year to reunite with his family, who were told that he had been killed.Suffering from mental trauma, Ali can not work.Nada is beginning beauty school to support the family, and they hope to raise $10,000 to buy fake documents to move to Europe.In the meantime, they live in a small apartment in Beirut, and lack electricity because they cannot afford it.Their two children are in school thanks to the generosity of neighbors who are taking collections to pay for uniforms and school supplies."