Silent Victims of the Iraq War

In honoring World Refugee Day today, we should comprehend the impact that conflict has on the most innocent and vulnerable members of society. Five years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, more than 800,000 children have been forced to flee their homes to escape the violence. According to a report released Tuesday, most are unable to go to school and 60% do not have access to clean drinking water. More than half of the displaced children suffer from malnutrition. The mortality rate of children under 5 years old is three times higher in Iraq than in Syria or Jordan. Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflicts said that displaced children, “lack access to the most basic services and manifest a wide range of psychological symptoms from the violence in their everyday lives.” Violence and conflict have defined the lives of an entire generation of Iraqi children.

What is being done to help displaced children?

The United Nations Children’s Fund, better known as UNICEF, created a new emergency response mechanism called "IMPACT: Iraq" which will begin in July. It will deliver healthcare, clean water, sanitation, and emergency education resources to 360,000 children and their families. Sigrid Kaag, UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said that IMACT: Iraq will, “ allow us to have better access…to address the needs of education, health water and sanitation.” The biggest hurdle to IMPACT: Iraq will be safe access for humanitarian workers to reach the families in need. There are many other obstacles, but Kaag remains optimistic. “We see a new momentum to meet the needs on the ground through stronger partnerships. Results…indicate we can deliver even under very difficult conditions.” Through efforts like this, the needs of millions of Iraqis can be addressed.

On this day reserved by the United Nations to remember refugees worldwide, please take the time to think about the lives of the millions of people who were forced to flee their homes because of violence.

Please take the first step in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Iraq by signing the EPIC Humanitarian Pledge. For more information about the Humanitarian Pledge, refugee crisis in Iraq, and World Refugee Day 2008, please read the entry below.

World Refugee Day: June 20, 2008

As many of you know, tomorrow is the seventh annual World Refugee Day. The United Nations designated June 20 as World Refugee Day to recognize the contributions of refugees around the world and to remember their plight. The theme for the 2008 World Refugee Day is: "Protecting Refugees: Rebuilding Lives in Safety and Dignity." Right now, more than 5.2 million Iraqis have been driven from their homes. 2.5 million Iraqis fled from Iraq, seeking refuge in neighboring countries, particularly Jordan and Syria. Another 2.7 million are displaced within Iraq. Some estimate that 30% of the refugees are children. "Displacement leaves children at risk for disease, with lack of adequate healthcare and nutrition, and places many children at risk for abuse. Of the displaced children younger than five, almost half suffer from malnutrition."

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, or UNHCR, is an agency of the United Nations mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. They also provide support to governments in the region that are struggling to cope with the huge influx of refugees from Iraq. So far, the UNHCR has registered more than 280,000 Iraqis in neighboring states, provided health care for 250,000 people and enabled 72,000 Iraqi refugee children to attend school. In January, UNHCR appealed for 261 million dollars to fund its operation aimed at helping some of the most vulnerable refugees. However, they only received 134 million, leaving them 127 million dollars short of the necessary funding to continue support in Iraq. António Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees for the UN stated, “Without this support, the humanitarian crisis we have faced over the past two years may grow even larger.”

A lot has been done to address the refugee crisis, but there are still many needs that are unmet.

What can you do to help on World Refugee Day?

To honor World Refugee Day, we urge you to sign the Humanitarian Pledge and send it to your peers. The pledge has 3 core components:

• A belief that the people of Iraq and the United States are interconnected by events since the war began in 2003 and that more must be done to help the millions of displaced Iraqis.
  
• A call for President Bush, his successor, and Congress to do more to strengthen assistance to the region; to support effective relief, peace-building, and community-based development; and to increase US admission to vulnerable Iraqis.
  
• A commitment to help the millions of Iraqis in need of aid and to make a better, safer world.
  

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE HUMANITARIAN PLEDGE

Yesterday, Ken Bacon, president of Refugees International, wrote an interesting article about the refugee crisis in Iraq and the response by the US government. In the article, he stated: “President Bush has never mentioned the plight of displaced Iraqis, and other White House officials act as though the problem doesn't exist.”

Please do not let the humanitarian crisis in Iraq continue to go unnoticed.