Commentary
Middle East Diary - McClatchy Newspapers
Iraqi refugees
Posted by Hannah Allam
Thu May 8, 5:12 AM ET
The future looks dismal for an estimated 2.5 million Iraqi refugees who are now scattered throughout the Arab world, Europe and Australia. The UN's refugee agency just released its May 2008 update on Iraq's refugee crisis, and the situation is grim. More Iraqis need food assistance, health care, cash handouts and education, according to the UN agency's survey of the vast Iraqi refugee community in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Among the most disturbing findings in the latest UN report:
The UN and Syrian government estimate the Iraqi population in Syria to be between 1 and 1.5 million people. The UN has registered only 194,273.
About 157,000 Iraqis missed out on food rations because the main distribution site was dismantled April 29 after the Syrian government reclaimed the land for other purposes.
Latest survey results show that 4 percent of Iraqi refugees in Syria planned to return to Iraq, 89.5 were not planning to return to Iraq, 6.5 percent did not know if they were returning to Iraq, and 27 percent knew people who had returned to Iraq.
Of the refugees registered since 2007, more than 22,000 are victims of torture/violence, more than 28,000 have an important medical condition and more than 4,000 are women at risk.
Of all the refugees registered to date, 56.5 percent are Sunni, 20.2 percent are Shiite and 16 percent are Christian.
Fewer than 25 percent of Iraqi refugee children are enrolled in school
The UN refugee agency is protecting 50 Iraqi women in Douma Prison and six Iraqi girls (ages 12 to 17) in the Juvenile and Rehabilitation Center. The majority of the girls and women are survivors of sexual gender-based violence, including rape and forced prostitution.
In 2007, the UN submitted 7,852 Iraqi refugees for resettlement in other countries. Only 833 refugees were resettled.
