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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/28/funding-shortfall-hits-plans-for-idps-returnees/#respond" title="Comment on Funding shortfall hits plans for IDPs, returnees">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 28th, 2011 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/28/funding-shortfall-hits-plans-for-idps-returnees/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Funding shortfall hits plans for IDPs, returnees">Funding shortfall hits plans for IDPs, returnees</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/brookings-institution/" rel="tag">Brookings Institution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/education/" rel="tag">Education</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/internal-displacement/" rel="tag">internal displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iom/" rel="tag">IOM</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/photos/" rel="tag">Photos</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-resettlement/" rel="tag">refugee resettlement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-resettlement-of/" rel="tag">Refugees - resettlement of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resettlement/" rel="tag">resettlement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rule-of-law/" rel="tag">Rule of law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 28 February 2011 (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92060" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – Iraqi government plans for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees may not be fully implemented this year because of a funding shortfall, says Deputy Minister for Displacement and Migration Azhar Al-Mousawi. </p> <p> <a title="IDPs_in_northern_Baghdad_receive_aid_from_Red_Crescent_Society_volunteers_file_photo_caption by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5568216047/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 3px 10px 5px 0px" height="262" alt="IDPs_in_northern_Baghdad_receive_aid_from_Red_Crescent_Society_volunteers_file_photo_caption" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5222/5568216047_d9befe0a3e_o.jpg" width="350" align="left"/></a> <p>“We have set [up] a lot of big projects this year, but the ministry – according to the allocated budget – may not be able to implement its commitments,” he told IRIN on 26 February. </p> <p>In January, the government announced plans to tackle internal displacement, and monitor and assist Iraqi refugees abroad. It sought to encourage IDPs to go back to their areas of origin, stay in the areas they have ended up in, or help them move to a new area. </p> <p>The government also established “Return Assistance Centres” in Baghdad, and offered a financial assistance package of US$850 and a six-month rental compensation package for registered IDPs. </p> <p>“We have plans to tackle internal displacement, help the returnees and encourage expatriates [mainly doctors and teachers who fled the violence] to return," Mousawi said. "All these plans need money [but] what we have is not enough." </p> <p>According to the UN Secretary-General’s representative on the rights of IDPs, Walter Kalin, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SNAA-8EBLQH?OpenDocument&rc=3&cc=irq" class="external" target="_blank">scale and history of forced displacement</a> in Iraq  has created a complex situation that needs a “comprehensive strategy” to address the immediate humanitarian needs and human rights of displacement-affected communities, and find durable solutions. </p> <p>“Iraq has suffered many waves of internal displacement throughout its recent past as a result of conflict, sectarian violence, and forced population movements associated with policies of the former regime – with an estimated 1.55 million persons remaining in displacement since 2006,” Kalin said in a 16 February report. </p> <p>“This situation is compounded by a marked deterioration of basic infrastructures and services across the country, lack of livelihoods and economic opportunities, continuing insecurity and sectarian divisions, as well as serious deficits in relation to governance, rule of law and the capacity of government structures." </p> <p>According to the Washington-based <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://csis.org/" class="external" target="_blank">Centre for Strategic and International Studies</a>, Iraqi IDPs and refugees are unwilling to return to their places of origin because of continued real or perceived threats of violence: Their homes were either destroyed or occupied by others; and they lacked employment opportunities and access to essential services. </p> <h3>Seeking partners</h3> <p>Mousawi said his ministry, which is mandated to implement government plans for IDPs and returnees, was only allocated the equivalent of US$250 million this year, but needs $416-500 million to fully implement its plans. Iraq’s parliament approved an $82.6 billion budget on 20 February. </p> <p>The ministry, he added, would review its plans and seek partners mainly in the UN. “Our priority is to help displaced people and returnees to meet their needs,” he said. “But returnees will need more to be spent on them than those still displaced because they need health, education and other services." </p> <p>Funding shortfalls have also affected the work of international organizations. In its 2011 Global Appeal, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said its budget for this year in Iraq was about $210.6 million, lamenting a 20-40 percent funding shortfall. </p> <p>“Some returnees and IDPs remain in dire circumstances that require urgent humanitarian interventions,” it said in an appeal earlier this year. </p> <p>(For latest statistics on returnees and IDPs by governorate, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.iauiraq.org/documents/1300/Return%20Update%20IRAQ%20JAN%202011.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">see</a>) </p> <p>According to Kalin, over 75 percent of IDPs live in rented accommodation or with host families, while over 20 percent live in irregular settlements, former military camps, tents and public buildings. </p> <p>There are an estimated 1.5 million IDPs across the country, according to Refugees International and the Brookings Institution. Many of these fled their homes after sectarian violence broke out following the 2003 war that toppled Saddam Hussein. </p> <p>(For a recent IOM review of displacement and return in Iraq since 2006, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.iauiraq.org/documents/1308/librar.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">see</a>) </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92060" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: Funding shortfall hits plans for IDPs, returnees | Iraq | Economy | Refugees/IDPs</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12031"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/28/iraqi-refugees-interpreting-the-statistics/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi refugees – interpreting the statistics">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 28th, 2010 by Abdus-Samad</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/28/iraqi-refugees-interpreting-the-statistics/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi refugees – interpreting the statistics">Iraqi refugees – interpreting the statistics</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/brookings-institution/" rel="tag">Brookings Institution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food/" rel="tag">food</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/host-governments/" rel="tag">host governments</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-organization-for-migration/" rel="tag">international organization for migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugee/" rel="tag">iraqi refugee</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migrants/" rel="tag">migrants</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/population-mobility/" rel="tag">population mobility</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-population/" rel="tag">refugee population</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/repatriation/" rel="tag">repatriation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returned-refugees/" rel="tag">Returned Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/situation-in-iraq/" rel="tag">situation in iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/world-food-programme/" rel="tag">World Food Programme</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>DAMASCUS, 28 December 2010 (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91464" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the country after sectarian violence broke out following the 2003 war which toppled Saddam Hussein. However, the precise number of refugees is hard to ascertain and fluctuates in line with changing perceptions and the security situation in Iraq. </p> <p>"It would be nice to have the full picture, but the special circumstances of the Iraqi refugee population means we don’t… although we have a good idea of the refugees registered with us," said Andrew Harper, head of the UN Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) Iraq Support Unit in Geneva. </p> <p>Host governments (largely in the Middle East) at one time estimated that more than 2.5 million Iraqis had fled to their countries. But that statistic is now too high, say independent experts not affiliated with UNHCR. Distinguishing between refugees and other migrants, and deducting the number of those who have returned to Iraq for good can be difficult. </p> <p>UNHCR has registered just over 400,000 Iraqis since 2003 but currently they have 200,000 on their books. More refugees register every day – some 2,000 per month in Syria. However, the agency says those figures are not definitive. </p> <p>"Many refugees choose not to register with us, either because there is a stigma attached in asking for assistance or they see no reason to register unless they need our services," said Harper. </p> <p>Currently, host governments claim some 1.5 million Iraqis remain on their territories, while Refugees International, a US-based NGO, said it believed only 500,000 Iraqis remained outside the country. </p> <h3>Reasons for discrepancies </h3> <p>The Iraqi refugees are hard to track because they reside almost exclusively in an urban rather than a camp setting, predominantly in Syria and Jordan. In July last year, a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.unhcr.org/4a69ad639.pdf#zoom=66" class="external" target="_blank">UNHCR report detailed the challenges</a>. </p> <p>Population mobility is another factor, according to Harper. Many families are split or commute between Syria and Iraq to see relatives, work, or are checking the situation on the ground. </p> <p>In such a situation, they are harder to count, or may have their files deactivated by UNHCR if they are absent for long periods. UNHCR says mobility is positive as it allows refugees to stay in touch with their country and prepare for an eventual return. </p> <h3>Bald statistics can be misleading </h3> <p>Bald statistics, without a breakdown, can be misleading due to the high rates of movement. Over the past few months, a fairly consistent number of refugees have been registered in Syria – currently some 139,586 – but this figure masks the fact that each month some refugees leave and others register. Some 32,200 files were deactivated in the first 10 months of 2010, 5,408 people were resettled elsewhere, 176 returned to Iraq under the UNHCR voluntary repatriation scheme, and some 18,719 registered in the same time period, UNHCR says. </p> <p>Statistical methods are also variable. "Many Iraqi refugees fled before the war," said Elizabeth Ferris, a senior fellow and Iraq expert at the Brookings Institution. "There is no agreement as to which time period to count people in." </p> <h3>Challenges </h3> <p>Uncertainty over figures has posed challenges for aid agencies, but UNHCR says it bases its planning for staff and budget on the number of refugees it has registered. </p> <p>Predicting trends can also be difficult, say experts. UNHCR has resettled more than 50,000 refugees, mostly in the USA, and assisted more than 2,000 to return to Iraq. But an unknown number is likely to have returned independently. </p> <p>Within Iraq, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) registers returned refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). It says some 130,000 refugees have returned since 2007. </p> <p>"Agencies have got used to working with imprecise figures," said Ferris, "but it is not good practice to develop programmes on this basis." </p> <p>UNHCR contests this argument. "We have precise information regarding the registered refugees and base our programmes on their needs. This information is regularly updated," said Wafa Amr, UNHCR’s regional spokesperson. </p> <p>Agencies have come up with novel techniques to meet the challenges. UNHCR has more than 150 outreach workers in Syria alone who visit neighbourhoods to identify refugees. Publications are used to raise awareness of the plight of the refugees. To maintain the dignity of refugees and overcome challenges posed by refugees living in an urban setting, UNHCR has made cash payments available via an ATM. UNHCR uses SMS text messages to alert refugees, and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) recently rolled out an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=90560" class="external" target="_blank">SMS food voucher scheme</a>. </p> <h3>IDPs </h3> <p>Despite the uncertainty, no new assessment of the Iraqi refugees is due. "There is a fear the numbers would come in lower and this would have an impact on governments such as Syria and Jordan as it may affect the amount of financing channelled to them," said Ferris. </p> <p>More is known about IDPs, as the Iraqi authorities are better able to track them. UNHCR, Refugees International and Brookings agree on a figure of 1.5 million, 500,000 of whom live in slums. Of the returnees registered with the IOM, 86 percent are IDPs but overall numbers of returnees are said to be low. </p> <p>"Our main concern is that a very substantial number of Iraqis needing assistance are going to remain in 2011 and probably longer," said Amr. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91464" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | MIDDLE EAST: Iraqi refugees – interpreting the statistics | Iraq | Syria | Conflict | Refugees/IDPs</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11986"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/24/christian-exodus-from-iraq-gathers-pace/#respond" title="Comment on Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 24th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a 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rel="tag">Universities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%83%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%b3%d8%a9-%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%af%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%a9/" rel="tag">كنيسة سيدة النجاة</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/visas/" rel="tag">visas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Their cathedrals stand silent and their neighbourhoods are rapidly emptying. Now <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iraq" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq</a>’s Christians face two further unthinkable realities: that Christmas this year is all but cancelled, and that few among them will stay around to celebrate future holy days.</p> <p>It has been the worst of years for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing in the past month and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the invasion nearly eight years ago. Christian leaders say there have been few more defining years in their 2,000-year history in central Arabia.</p> <p> <a title="20102412_captioned_memorial_murdered_christians by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.flickr.com/photos/gorillasguides/5287899085/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin: 0px auto 5px" height="276" alt="20102412_captioned_memorial_murdered_christians" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759im_/http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5287899085_689e1097d8_o.jpg" width="460"/></a> <p>The latest exodus follows a massacre led by al-Qaida at a Chaldean Catholic church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left about 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified. Since then, the terrorist group has targeted Christians in their homes, including family members of those who survived the attack.</p> <p>In Baghdad, as well as the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. Church leaders said they would not put up Christmas decorations or celebrate midnight mass. They told families not to decorate their homes, for fear of attack after al-Qaida reiterated its threat to target Christians earlier this week.</p> <p>"Now more than 80% of Christians are not going to the churches," said the head of Iraq’s Christian Endowment group, Abdullah al-Noufali. "There is no more sunday school, no school for teaching Christianity. Yesterday we had a discussion about what we would do for Christmas. We took a decision just to do one mass. In years before we had many masses."</p> <p>Noufali’s church was closed and barricaded in 2005 when violence was consuming Baghdad. Many others had stayed open since then. Until now. In the wake of the attack on the Our Lady of Salvation church, at least 10 churches are believed to have been closed. At others, congregations are down to a handful.</p> <p>Iraq’s Christian population has halved since the ousting of Saddam Hussein. But in the past two months, the rate of departure has soared. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is reporting high numbers of registrations by Christians in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. And in Iraq’s Kurdish north, the number of refugees is overwhelming.</p> <p>Christians have been arriving since the president of the Kurdish regional government, Massoud Barazani, offered them protection and refuge days after the massacre.</p> <p>Kurdish officials say at least 1,000 families have taken up the offer. Noufali believes the number is far higher. He says the Kurds have been warm and welcoming, but fears that moving there does not offer his community a long-term solution.</p> <p>"We have seen in Kurdistan that they have no ability to accept the Kurdish students in the universities," he said. "There are not enough chairs in the university for them. They must have opportunity to learn and work. The problem is not just security."</p> <p>In Lebanon, the plight of Iraq’s Christians is being carefully scrutinised. Father Yusef Muwaness, of the Council of Catholic Churches in the Middle East, said: "We understand the shock [the Iraqis] are enduring. We want them to know that they won’t be left alone.</p> <p>"There are ancient issues at work. These people [al-Qaida] are killing because of a fatwa. There has not been a mufti who has stood up and said this is wrong."</p> <p>Lebanon’s Christians once held a demographic majority. Emigration and a brutal civil war has whittled numbers away. Amin Gemayel, a former Lebanese president and now patriarch of many of the country’s remaining Christians, believes far more could be done by Muslim leaders to ensure that the exodus is not total.</p> <p>"The Christians were very nationalistic," he said. "They are part of the foundations of this area. We can’t understand such extremity then passivity from the leaders. When the region is completely cleansed of other religions (apart from Islam) it will be a surrender to the fundamentalists."</p> <p>In the Chaldean archdiocese in Baabda, above Beirut, Father Hanna has been receiving Iraqi families fleeing their homeland. "I would go back there to give a service in front of one person, if I had to," he said. "But even that may not be possible now. Since 1 November, we have seen 450 families register here. Many more have gone to the UN."</p> <p>Among those who have stayed in Iraq and tried to build a new life in the north, there are mixed feelings. "Three days after the church attack I left my house (in Baghdad) and came to the KRG," said Georges Qudah, 30, a pharmacy assistant. "At the main checkpoint I said we are a Christian family, and they said we are welcome to stay as long as we want. I feel safe and comfortable here, but the problem is how to live. The council here has given us blankets and beds, but housing is very expensive."</p> <p>In Baghdad, there are few signs of the joy of Christmas.</p> <p>"There is no hope here anymore," says Noufali. "No one can believe they [the Christians] will stay. Christmas came with two messages, peace in the world and hope for the people and we need these two things for our life in Iraq. If there are no more Christians here, I am certain Iraq will become a more dangerous country."</p> <h3>Christianity in the Middle East</h3> <p> Freedom of worship for Christians varies greatly across the Middle East. <p>In Lebanon, where about half the population are Christian, believers are allowed to practise their faith without fear of persecution. The Maronite Church is the largest, most politically active and influential denomination, holding 34 of the 64 Christian seats in the Lebanese parliament.</p> <p>In Jordan, Christians are free to profess their faith, build churches, schools, hospitals and universities. They attend mass and there are public celebrations of religious festivals and ceremonies. They experience less discrimination and more freedom than fellow believers in Egypt and Iraq. There is a similar portrait of stability and freedom in Syria, where Christians comprise up to 10% of the population.</p> <p>Evangelising bvy Protestants in Jordan has prompted a crackdown on churches, visas and summer camps. Attempting to convert Muslims is illegal, but there is no law against proselytising to other Christians and some Catholic and Orthodox groups have complained of energetic wooing from Protestants. It is this evangelising that has offended authorities, keen to avoid religious zealotry of any sort.</p> <p>What Saudi Arabia lacks in violent persecution it makes up for in outright intolerance. There is no religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, which counts a million Catholics in its population. The country allows Christians to enter for work purposes but severely restricts the practise of their faith.</p> <p>Christians worship in private homes and there are bans on religious articles including Bibles, crucifixes, statues, carvings and items bearing religious symbols. The religious police bar the practice of any religion other than Islam. Conversion of a Muslim to another religion is considered apostasy and carries a death sentence if the accused does not recant. Still, Christians in Saudi Arabia are positively blessed compared with those of Iraq. <strong>Riazat Butt</strong></p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/23/iraq-christian-exodus-christmas" class="external" target="_blank">Christian exodus from Iraq gathers pace</a> | by Martin Chulov in Baghdad |  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.guardian.co.uk/" target="_blank" class="external">The Guardian</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9488"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/31/red-cross-iraq-coping-with-violence-and-striving-to-earn-a-living/#respond" title="Comment on Red Cross Iraq: coping with violence and striving to earn a living">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 31st, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/31/red-cross-iraq-coping-with-violence-and-striving-to-earn-a-living/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Red Cross Iraq: coping with violence and striving to earn a living">Red Cross Iraq: coping with violence and striving to earn a living</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/1990-1991-gulf-war/" rel="tag">1990-1991 Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/acts-of-violence/" rel="tag">acts of violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agricultural-machinery/" rel="tag">agricultural machinery</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dohuk/" rel="tag">Dohuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drought/" rel="tag">drought</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/electricity-supply/" rel="tag">electricity supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/erbil/" rel="tag">Erbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fertiliser/" rel="tag">fertiliser</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fodder/" rel="tag">Fodder</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-handouts/" rel="tag">food handouts</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-parcels/" rel="tag">Food parcels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fort-suse/" rel="tag">Fort Suse</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gulf-war/" rel="tag">Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/habbaniya/" rel="tag">Habbaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hamdanya/" rel="tag">Hamdanya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a 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of the red cross</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-humanitarian-law/" rel="tag">international humanitarian law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran-iraq-war/" rel="tag">Iran-Iraq War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iri/" rel="tag">IRI</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kdp-station/" rel="tag">KDP Station</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurd/" rel="tag">kurd</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kuwait/" rel="tag">kuwait</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/limb-fitting/" rel="tag">Limb-fitting</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/livin/" rel="tag">Livin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mag/" rel="tag">MAG</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mahmodiya/" rel="tag">Mahmodiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/medical-supplies/" rel="tag">medical supplies</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/missing-persons/" rel="tag">missing persons</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mosul/" rel="tag">Mosul</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nasiriya/" rel="tag">Nasiriya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/neighbouring-countries/" rel="tag">neighbouring countries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninawa/" rel="tag">Ninawa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poor-harvests/" rel="tag">poor harvests</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/primary-health-care/" rel="tag">primary health care</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prisons/" rel="tag">prisons</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pumping-stations/" rel="tag">pumping stations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qaim/" rel="tag">Qaim</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rabia/" rel="tag">Rabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/red-crescentred-cross/" rel="tag">Red Crescent/Red Cross</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/red-cross-messages/" rel="tag">Red Cross messages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rehabilitation/" rel="tag">rehabilitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rice/" rel="tag">rice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rural-areas/" rel="tag">rural areas</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-city/" rel="tag">Sadr City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah/" rel="tag">Salah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-al-din/" rel="tag">Salah al-Din</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sewage/" rel="tag">sewage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/social-welfare/" rel="tag">social welfare</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniya/" rel="tag">Sulaimaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/taji/" rel="tag">Taji</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tasfirat/" rel="tag">Tasfirat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tasfirat-kirkuk/" rel="tag">Tasfirat Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tripartite-commission/" rel="tag">Tripartite Commission</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">مدينة الصدر‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treatment/" rel="tag">water treatment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-children/" rel="tag">Women and Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ac%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a8-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%b1/" rel="tag">جمعية الصليب والهلال الاحمر</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>The beginning of 2010 was marred by acts of violence that claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians, mainly in Baghdad, the central governorates and Najaf. In Mosul, families fled violence and sought refuge in safer areas. Although recent violence-related displacement has been sporadic, there remain some 2.8 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Iraq who had to leave their homes over recent years in search of safety. </p> <p>Many Iraqis, especially those worst affected by the effects of the conflict and the ongoing violence, such as displaced, elderly and disabled people and women heading households, continued to struggle to feed their families. Their inability to buy enough of the essential goods they require remains a major concern. </p> <p>Agriculture, formerly an important part of the economy, has been declining for the past decade. Individuals who have lost agricultural machinery to damage, age or disrepair often cannot replace it owing to a lack of financial wherewithal. In addition, the water supply has been hard hit by a failure to properly maintain pumping stations and irrigation and distribution canals, by the unreliable electricity supply and by higher fuel costs. The massive increase in the price of seed and fertilizer, and cheap imports from neighbouring countries, also play a role in making farming difficult, if not impossible, in many parts of Iraq. Many farmers try to survive by cultivating smaller patches of land, but as they are forced to use low-quality supplies the result is often poor harvests. Others have migrated to cities in search of other ways of earning a living. </p> <p>The situation was exacerbated by the 2008 drought – the worst in the past 10 years – which had an especially severe impact on rain-fed agriculture in central, west-central and some northern parts of the country. In some areas, agricultural production was wiped out. After years of poor rainfalls, pastures were reduced and prices of fodder soared. According to an ICRC survey, breeders were forced to cut down their herds by more than 60 per cent in some parts of the country, which had a drastic effect on their livelihoods. "Before, we used to move to neighbouring districts. Now, everywhere is dry and we lost our crops and animals. How can we go on?," said one local farmer in Ninawa governorate. </p> <p>For households that have lost their main wage earner, the economic situation is especially hard to endure. Most people who went missing in connection with recent wars or the ongoing violence, and most people behind bars, are adult males – usually breadwinners. The women and children they left behind often became isolated and therefore extremely vulnerable, despite the strong cultural solidarity among Iraqis. </p> <p>The ICRC is helping the Iraqis who are worst off to cope with their hardships, and Iraqi communities to support themselves unaided. It is distributing seed and fertilizer, and fodder for livestock. In addition, it is vaccinating cattle and cleaning and improving irrigation canals. In 2009 alone, some 195,000 people benefited. </p> <p>In January and February 2010, according to the ICRC’s own independent assessment carried out by the organization’s staff all over Iraq, more than 20,000 people benefited from its humanitarian assistance:</p> <ul> <li>almost 15,500 displaced people (families headed by women) in Baghdad, Diyala, Salah Al-Din and Ninawa governorates were given monthly food parcels and hygiene items; </li> <li>around 5,400 people recently displaced from Mosul to Hamdanya and Tilkaif received emergency food parcels, rice and ready-to-eat meals; </li> <li>over 1,900 farmers in Diyala governorate received 491.5 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer to help them improve their harvest and make their farming sustainable; </li> <li>43 disabled people in Erbil, Dohuk, Sulaimaniya and Ninewa governorates benefited from micro-economic aid enabling them to start small businesses and regain economic self-sufficiency. </li> </ul> <p>The ICRC also endeavoured to respond to other needs of the Iraqi population in January and February. </p> <h3>Providing clean water and sanitation</h3> <p>Access to clean water remains inadequate in several parts of the country. Only 45 per cent of the population, on average, have clean drinking water and 20 per cent proper sewage disposal. ICRC water engineers continue to repair and upgrade water, electrical and sanitation facilities all over Iraq, especially in areas where violence remains a concern, to enhance access for civilians to clean water and to improve the quality of services provided in communities and health-care facilities. </p> <ul> <li>Baghdad governorate: Samadiya water compact unit for about 20,000 people, Al Mahmodiya General Hospital serving some 400,000 people living in the area, Ibn Al Khateeb Infectious Diseases Hospital, Medico Legal Institute, Tabat al Kurd water boosting station for over 3,500 people and Al Mada’in water treatment plant for 470,000 people (including displaced people) plus three hospitals and eight primary health-care centres. </li> <li>Anbar governorate: Heet water treatment plant for 45,000 residents and 250 displaced people, Habbaniya water treatment plant for 30,000 residents and 1,500 displaced people, and Al Qaim Hospital providing health care for around 350,000 area inhabitants. </li> <li>Salah Al Din governorate: al Dor clinic and Dijail compact unit supplying water to almost 25,000 people. </li> </ul> <p>Other water-related works were carried out that will benefit nearly 100,000 people in Missan, Diwaniya and Diyala governorates, and in Ninawa governorate where 3,000 inmates held at Badoosh prison will be among those benefiting. </p> <p>Water was delivered by truck to: </p> <ul> <li>4,500 displaced people in Sadr City and 340 in Husseinia and Ma’amil, and in Baghdad Teaching Hospital, all in Baghdad governorate; </li> <li>Qalawa Quarter camp in Sulaimaniya, hosting around 360 displaced people. Two damaged tanks of 5,000 litres each have been replaced. </li> </ul> <h3>Assisting hospitals and physical rehabilitation centres</h3> <p>Health-care services are still inadequate. In some areas, it is difficult to reach health facilities because of the prevailing lack of security. Iraqi health facilities still benefit from ICRC support. Limb-fitting and physical rehabilitation services are provided by the ICRC to help disabled people reintegrate into the community. In January and February: </p> <ul> <li>12 hospitals and three primary health-care centres received medical supplies and equipment; </li> <li>34 doctors and nurses successfully took part in a training course on strengthening emergency services given in Sulaimaniya Emergency Hospital and in Al Sadr Teaching Hospital in Najaf; </li> <li>26 managers working in the field of primary health care in Ninawa, Kirkuk, Erbil and Diyala governorates participated in a forum, held in Erbil, on improving the quality of health care services in rural primary health-care centres; </li> <li>two physiotherapists from Najaf, two from Hilla, one from Sulaimaniya and one from Erbil attended a three-week training course in Erbil, where the ICRC runs a physical rehabilitation centre. </li> </ul> <h3>Visiting detainees</h3> <p>Visiting detainees remains a top priority for the ICRC in Iraq. In January and February, ICRC delegates visited detainees held: </p> <ul> <li>in Fort Suse Federal Prison, Sulaimaniya governorate; in Nasiriya Prison, Thi-Qar governorate; in Mina and Maaqal prisons, Basra governorate; </li> <li>in Tasfirat Kirkuk, Emergency Police Station and Juvenile Police Centre; in Assayesh KDP Station, Kirkuk governorate; </li> <li>in Brigade 54, 6th Division, Baghdad governorate; </li> <li>in six prisons and two police stations in Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya governorates; </li> <li>in Camp Taji (US custody), Baghdad governorate. This was the last visit to the detention facility prior to its handover to Iraqi authorities. </li> </ul> <p>Around 5,200 detainees held in Fort Suse, Chamchamal, Khademiya, Adhala and Amarah prisons received blankets, mattresses and clothes to help them cope with the cold winter season. In Chamchamal Federal Prison, 34 disabled detainees were given crutches as part of a follow-up carried out by ICRC health delegates of health care in the prison. </p> <p>More than 7,800 Red Cross messages were exchanged between detainees and their families in January and February. In addition, 626 detention certificates were issued to former detainees or internees to make them eligible for social welfare benefits. </p> <h3>Clarifying what happened to missing people</h3> <p>The ICRC supports the authorities in their efforts to clarify what happened to those who went missing in connection with the Iran-Iraq War and the 1990-1991 Gulf War. It also helps train forensic professionals in the identification and management of mortal remains and regularly supplies equipment. In January and February: </p> <ul> <li>the mortal remains of nine Iranian soldiers were repatriated from Iraq under ICRC auspices; </li> <li>the Technical Sub-Committee of the Tripartite Commission, handling cases of persons missing in connection with the 1990-1991 Gulf War, held its 63rd session in Kuwait, which was chaired by the ICRC and attended by representatives from Iraq, Kuwait and the 1990-1991 Coalition (the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Saudi Arabia); </li> <li>two days of training by an ICRC forensic specialist were provided for staff of Al Zubair centre to help them better manage the files of thousands of missing persons. </li> </ul> <h3>Promoting international humanitarian law</h3> <p>Reminding parties to a conflict of their obligation to protect civilians is a fundamental part of the ICRC’s work. The organization also endeavours to promote international humanitarian law within the civil society. In this framework, a series of presentations were organized for various audiences, which included military personnel, prison staff, students and professors </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/iraq-update-300309" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: coping with violence and striving to earn a living</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9212"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%83%d8%b4%d9%81-%d8%b9%d9%86-%d8%a3%d8%b2%d9%85%d8%a9-%d8%a5%d9%86%d8%b3%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%ae%d8%b7%d9%8a%d8%b1%d8%a9-%d8%aa%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d9%87-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%a7/#respond" title="Comment on الكشف عن أزمة إنسانية خطيرة تواجه النازحين العراقيين">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 18th, 2010 by markfromireland</div> <h3><a 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rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-concerns/" rel="tag">security concerns</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters/" rel="tag">Squatters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters-evictions-halted/" rel="tag">Squatters -evictions halted</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unami/" rel="tag">UNAMI</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr-funding-shortfalls/" rel="tag">UNHCR Funding shortfalls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vulnerable-communities/" rel="tag">vulnerable communities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>افادت منظمة لاجئون دوليون " ريفوجيز انترناشيونال(<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/" target="_blank" class="external">Refugees International</a>) " غير الحكومية ان مئات الاف العراقيين الذين نزحوا من ديارهم بسبب الحرب الى مخيمات يعمها البؤس, يعانون من ازمة انسانية خطيرة. وكشفت المنظمة ان بين المليون ونصف المليون عراقي الذين اضطروا الى مغادرة منازلهم في العام الفين وستة والفين وسبعة زهاء خمسمئة الف, يعيشون في الاكواخ". وافاد تقرير للمنظمة ان الحكومة لا تبذل الكثير وربما لا تفعل شيئا لمساعدة النازحين داعية الولايات المتحدة "التي تتحمل مسؤولية خاصة" في هذه الازمة الانسانية الى الاهتمام بهم وفق التقرير . من جانبه، دعا سفير العراق في الولايات المتحدة سمير شاكر الصميدعي الحكومة الى بذل المزيد من اجل العراقيين النازحين داخل وخارج البلاد وقال ان "بلدا يقوم على بحر من النفط لا يجب ان يعيش سكانه في مثل هذه الظروف". </p> <p dir="rtl" align="right">( <strong>روابط ذات علاقة </strong>- <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist-refugees-international/">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International | Gorilla’s Guides</a>  )</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9198"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist-refugees-international/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 18th, 2010 by markfromireland</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/18/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist-refugees-international/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist | Refugees International</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-hospitals/" rel="tag">Baghdad Hospitals</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/discrimination/" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/elizabeth-campbell/" rel="tag">elizabeth campbell</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iom/" rel="tag">IOM</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-children/" rel="tag">iraqi children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khan-bani-saad/" rel="tag">Khan Bani Saad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/market/" rel="tag">Market</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/markets/" rel="tag">markets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinian-refugee/" rel="tag">palestinian refugee</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinian-refugees-in-irak/" rel="tag">Palestinian refugees in Irak</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestinians/" rel="tag">palestinians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prostitution/" rel="tag">Prostitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ration-system/" rel="tag">Ration System</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconstruction/" rel="tag">Reconstruction</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reintegration/" rel="tag">reintegration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resettlement/" rel="tag">resettlement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/restitution/" rel="tag">restitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-ad-din-governorate/" rel="tag">Salah ad Din (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sanitation/" rel="tag">sanitation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-concerns/" rel="tag">security concerns</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters/" rel="tag">Squatters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/squatters-evictions-halted/" rel="tag">Squatters -evictions halted</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unami/" rel="tag">UNAMI</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr-funding-shortfalls/" rel="tag">UNHCR Funding shortfalls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vulnerable-communities/" rel="tag">vulnerable communities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <ul> <li> <blockquote style="border-bottom: 1px solid black; padding-bottom: 1em;">As the U.S. continues to draw down its military forces and eventually end its occupation in Iraq, the U.S. and other donors must increase their humanitarian and development assistance and commitment to finding long-term solutions for displaced Iraqis. Millions of people are still displaced without access to shelter, food, health care or other basics. It is too soon for the U.S. government and other donors to abandon the needs of the Iraqi people. Likewise, the UN must seek to increase its presence and resources inside the country and throughout the region, ensuring that Iraq’s most vulnerable are protected and assisted until durable solutions are available.</p></blockquote> </li> <li> <blockquote>On the one hand the U.S., the UN, and the entire international community often champion the considerable security progress inside Iraq. On the other hand, these same entities continue to be extremely constrained by highly restrictive security protocols. These protocols no longer reflect the realities in the country, and the lack of access continues to severely hamper the humanitarian response of the UN and the U.S. The zero-risk mentality of the burgeoning security industry has hijacked more rational and creative thinking that might help guarantee staff safety while allowing for greater mobility in a more low-profile manner. </p></blockquote> </li> </ul> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p><strong>Policy recommendations</strong></p> <ul> <li> <p>The U.S. should continue to fund current and future UN appeals at no less than 50% and seek to dramatically increase its support for community development programs.</p> </li> <li> <p>The UN and the U.S. should review and adapt their security measures in Iraq to allow staff greater freedom of movement and access to vulnerable communities.</p> </li> <li> <p>The Government of Iraq should develop a detailed plan to implement the solutions included in its 2008 National Policy on Displacement.</p> </li> <li> <p>UNHCR should dramatically and rapidly increase its number of staff working in the field inside Iraq.</p> </li> <li> <p>The U.S. and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) should urge the Government of Iraq to create a process for IDPs to voluntarily integrate into the local communities in which they have been displaced.</p> </li> <li> <p>UNHCR should conduct a thorough needs assessment of the Palestinian refugee community in Iraq and seek durable solutions for those living in Iraq and Syria, including third country resettlement.</p> </li> </ul> <h3>Download File:</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/sites/default/files/031710_iraq.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist</a> File Size 136.03 KB (PDF)</li> </ul> <h4>About:</h4> <ul> <li><em>Refugees International Senior Advocate Elizabeth Campbell and consultant Nir Rosen assessed the situation for displaced Iraqis in Iraq and Syria in February 2010.</em></li> </ul></div> <p>The humanitarian situation facing Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people is quickly becoming a protracted one for which the U.S. bears special responsibility. Though the country is well positioned to generate vast sums of revenue from its oil, it will take many years before the government is able to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and provide basic services to its people. Ongoing political and security concerns continue to challenge development efforts. It is thus critical that the U.S. and other donors continue to support a strong and expanded humanitarian program, working hand-in-hand with a variety of community development initiatives. </p> </p> <h3>Iraqis Living as Squatters in Slums </h3> <p>UNHCR estimates that of the 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) forced from their homes in 2006 and 2007, 33% or 500,000 live as squatters in slum areas. Refugees International visited about 20 different squatter settlements in various parts of Baghdad, Diyala, and Salah al-Din. These people have no legal title to the land. Many fear returning to their original homes. Most are too poor to relocate. The settlements all lack basic services, including water, sanitation, and electricity and are built in precarious places—under bridges, alongside railroad tracks, and amongst garbage dumps. In 2009 the Iraqi Government issued a directive calling upon all squatters to vacate public buildings. This directive has since been postponed, but they all remain at risk of eviction. UNHCR will have to liaise closely with other UN agencies and international and national NGOs to provide assistance to these communities and to urge the Government of Iraq to create programs of land grants and housing for these people. </p> <p>Refugees International met several Iraqis who left Syria, because they could no longer afford to live there, and are now living as internally displaced squatters in these slum areas. As one squatter told the RI team, “We used to own a home in Abu Ghraib. Now we have lost everything. It is too dangerous for us to return there, so we are living here, hoping that the government will give us a small piece of land.” </p> <p>These families are among the most vulnerable in Iraq. Most have not received assistance from the government, UN agencies, or NGOs. Since they live illegally, the government is reluctant to improve their living conditions and address their basic needs. UNHCR is aware of many of these squatter settlements and is in the process of conducting a more comprehensive survey of them. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also has a list of the settlements in which the internally displaced live. IOM and UNHCR should work together to develop a single, comprehensive list so that humanitarian interventions can be targeted and coordinated. </p> <p>If UNHCR is going to have any impact addressing the needs of these especially vulnerable displaced people and the larger communities, they will have to dramatically increase the number of UNHCR staff people with the responsibility of reaching out to them. For those at risk of eviction in the near future, the UN should work closely with the Government of Iraq to begin to devise a contingency plan. As outlined in Iraq’s July 2008 National Policy on Displacement, displaced people and host communities should be involved in planning, designing and implementing appropriate strategies and programs concerning their return, integration or relocation. </p> <h3>Increasing Humanitarian Access in Iraq </h3> <p>On the one hand the U.S., the UN, and the entire international community often champion the considerable security progress inside Iraq. On the other hand, these same entities continue to be extremely constrained by highly restrictive security protocols. These protocols no longer reflect the realities in the country, and the lack of access continues to severely hamper the humanitarian response of the UN and the U.S. The zero-risk mentality of the burgeoning security industry has hijacked more rational and creative thinking that might help guarantee staff safety while allowing for greater mobility in a more low-profile manner. </p> <p>The UN Department for Safety and Security and the Resident Security Officers for the U.S. must adapt their security protocols to the new and changing realities and allow greater access for humanitarian workers. The northern and southern governorates of Iraq are widely recognized as being safe. Many parts of the central governorates can also be accessed daily for field visits. Refugees International staff was able to travel alone without security escorts throughout most of Baghdad and multiple locations within Diyala, Salah al-Din and Babel. Iraqis of all types and backgrounds interviewed by Refugees International expressed a strong desire to see the UN and international actors return and fully function in the country. </p> <p>Currently the U.S. government and the UN are completely dependent upon the U.S. military to provide access outside of the international zone. Access to Iraqi communities occurs irregularly and in a very limited fashion. Plans have to be made months in advance to coordinate trips. This already limited access will be further reduced with the impending U.S. military withdrawal. </p> <p>Furthermore, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), led by the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), often does not prioritize humanitarian issues. They tend to take a back seat to UNAMI’s political agenda. Political affairs officials are often given priority over humanitarian actors when it comes to dividing the limited number of slots available for staff to travel outside of the international zone. </p> <p>While international UN staff and diplomatic missions have limited access to Iraqi communities, an increasing number of international NGOs are accessing vulnerable Iraqis in Baghdad and other parts of the country. There is also a plethora of Iraqi NGOs who are making significant humanitarian contributions, without which much of the work could not take place. UNHCR’s efforts to enhance the capacity of over 100 national NGOs should be supported. </p> <h3>Returns and the Prospects for Local Integration </h3> <p>Though the Government of Iraq, the U.S., and other governments continue to push for displaced people to return home, much of the current displacement is likely to be permanent. UNHCR estimates that only 426,000 people have returned, the overwhelming majority of whom were internally displaced people. People will continue to return home, but only at a trickle. Lack of security and jobs continues to be a strong deterrent. Others are simply too traumatized to return to their places of origin. Long-term solutions must be found for these people. </p> <p>If given the option, IOM estimates that 25% of IDPs would be interested in local integration. This would be an important step forward in the protection of some IDPs, as they would then presumably be granted residency cards reflecting their new place of habitual residence. Such cards would allow them full and fair access to all services at the local and governorate level. They would be able to vote like other Iraqis in future elections, attend schools without facing discrimination, and seek employment without impediments. The U.S. and international community should urge the Government of Iraq to create a process for IDPs to voluntarily integrate locally if they so choose. </p> <p>Those wishing to return to their original homes and lands, but who are unwilling or unable to do so at this time, should continue to be afforded this opportunity when the conditions warrant safe and voluntary returns. Efforts to ensure that such people are able to retrieve their properties should continue to be made. This includes urging the Government of Iraq to expand its property restitution mechanism to all of the governorates and to ensure that those displaced between 2003 and 2005 are also provided a mechanism to reclaim or be compensated for their lost properties. The Iraqi government should at least quadruple the $850 return compensation grant currently available.</p> <p>Although few people have returned home, the Government of Iraq, the UN, and several donors have supported a successful return and reintegration program in the Governorate of Diyala, a place that suffered some of the most severe violence and the displacement of some 300,000 individuals. The objective is to support the voluntary return and reintegration of at least 27,500 families while rebuilding their communities. Assistance has been provided to both returnees and local residents in the understanding that communities as a whole must be engaged if resentments are to be avoided and returns sustained. Targeting some 400 largely destroyed villages, the project aims to provide urgent life-saving services and rebuild homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods. </p> <p>The Government of Iraq has pledged some $78 million dollars for reconstruction of destroyed homes, but the disbursement of these funds is lagging. Despite this, 3,000 starter homes have been constructed with 6,000 more planned for 2010 if funding is made available. </p> <p>The success of this initiative stems in part from the strong political commitment and financial pledge from the central government, the coordination and participation of most of the UN agencies and many international and national NGOs, and the strong support of the local authorities and communities. It is also successful because humanitarian actors are able to work closely with development actors, ensuring that the returns and the rebuilding of communities are long-term and sustainable. When Refugees International visited the project in villages near Khan Bani Saad, it was a rare but positive example of long-term development efforts working hand-in-hand with humanitarian intervention, benefitting a much larger number of people than those directly targeted for assistance. This model is successful and could be replicated in other parts of Iraq, but it is very costly. Donors should be willing to support these efforts. </p> <h3>Protecting Refugees in Syria </h3> <p>Most Iraqi refugees in Syria have benefited from generous government policies and hospitable neighbors. The government’s recent efforts to extend residency permits for six months, their commitment to issue some work permits, and their engagement in drafting legislation that will address the presence of Iraqis in Syria are all positive steps that help to advance the protection of refugees. </p> <p>Still, the overall situation for Iraqi refugees continues to deteriorate. It is therefore essential that the U.S. and other donors maintain their humanitarian commitment to this increasingly protracted refugee caseload. There are approximately 3,000 new individuals registering for refugee status each month. Most are unable to work. Families continue to be torn apart as men seek employment opportunities outside of Syria. Rents continue to increase. Families are forced to move in together and share small apartments. This year there are 30% fewer Iraqi children enrolled in school. In some cases the costs of books and school uniforms are prohibitive for families. There has been an increase in detention and deportation, due in part to petty crime and prostitution. Opportunities for local integration have not materialized, and the majority of refugees have no plans to return. While most refugees dream of third country resettlement, this solution will not be afforded to most of the 218,000 refugees currently registered with UNHCR. </p> <p>Almost 13,000 vulnerable Iraqi families now receive cash assistance in the amount of approximately $150 every month (plus $15 per dependent) through the use of ATM cards. This creative program is efficient, effective and dignified—and a preferred form of assistance for most refugees. The ATM card system has an overhead of approximately 2.3%, whereas the overhead cost for assistance distributed through partner agencies can be as high as 23%. In urban contexts like Damascus, cash assistance cuts down on otherwise costly outreach and distribution efforts. Without more funding, UNHCR will be forced to scale back this life-saving program. </p> <p>Similarly, refugees with chronic but treatable illnesses like diabetes and cancer are at risk of losing UNHCR’s support due to funding shortfalls. Thousands of refugees’ lives will be at stake if UNHCR and its partners are no longer able to help subsidize tertiary health care. </p> <p>The World Food Program has also responded to the particular needs of delivering assistance in an urban environment through a recently introduced pilot program. Each family receives a SMS text message on his or her mobile phone with the voucher number and the amount of the entitlement. Families are then able to redeem the voucher for food from a list of nine items in any one of the selected stores participating in the program. Such a program directly benefits the local and national economy and supports Syrian-run markets. Refugees feel empowered to make their own food selections. Overhead costs are drastically reduced. This innovative model should be expanded in Syria and replicated in other parts of the world. </p> <p>While these two innovative programs should be strengthened, more emphasis needs to be placed on skills training so that refugees are able to become self-sufficient. Information technology programs are particularly useful, as they have utility in resettlement countries, the country of asylum, and the country of origin. </p> <p>Today, UNHCR has one of the most sophisticated and accurate registration systems in the world operating in Syria. The numbers of refugees registered with UNHCR as well as the needs of many of the most vulnerable are well known. Donors have not been able to even meet the needs of registered refugees let alone those who choose not to register. The U.S. especially has a special responsibility to help host governments ensure that the basic assistance and protection needs of this population continue to be met until durable solutions are readily available. </p> <h3><b>Refugees in Iraq Need Durable Solutions</b> </h3> <p>There are some 35,000 refugees in Iraq. One of the largest and most vulnerable populations is the stateless Palestinians. Though successful efforts have been made to resettle Palestinians from three border camps, the needs of those in Damascus, Al Hol Refugee Camp in Syria and Baghdad must be urgently addressed. Unlike Iraqis, Palestinian refugees from Iraq have been denied access to asylum in neighboring countries and subjected to forced encampment. In Baghdad they continue to be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, raids by the police and army, and armed violence. Their recently issued identification documents are noticeably different from Iraqi documents, making them easy targets at checkpoints. Most Palestinians attempt to acquire Iraqi documentation, and the men regularly travel with women to help protect them against arbitrary arrest and detention. Hiding their Palestinian identity is a matter of survival for these refugees. </p> <p>At the start of the war in 2003 there were an estimated 35,000 Palestinian refugees in Baghdad. Today there are only 11,000. Left behind are the elderly, the disabled, and some of the most destitute families. Even if they attempted to flee, there is nowhere for them to run—the Jordanian and Syrian borders are closed to them and UNHCR actively turns away Palestinians attempting to flee to Al Waleed Camp on the border. </p> <p>Many of the families are in need of urgent assistance. UNHCR needs to conduct a full assessment of this population and develop criteria for resettlement. In Syria UNHCR needs to immediately refer Palestinian cases in Damascus for resettlement and continue resettlement out of Al Hol Camp. </p> <h3><b>Conclusion</b> </h3> <p>As the U.S. continues to draw down its military forces and eventually end its occupation in Iraq, the U.S. and other donors must increase their humanitarian and development assistance and commitment to finding long-term solutions for displaced Iraqis. Millions of people are still displaced without access to shelter, food, health care or other basics. It is too soon for the U.S. government and other donors to abandon the needs of the Iraqi people. Likewise, the UN must seek to increase its presence and resources inside the country and throughout the region, ensuring that Iraq’s most vulnerable are protected and assisted until durable solutions are available. </p> </p> <p><em>Refugees International Senior Advocate Elizabeth Campbell and consultant Nir Rosen assessed the situation for displaced Iraqis in Iraq and Syria in February 2010.</em> </p> </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/policy/field-report/iraq-humanitarian-needs-persist" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.refugeesinternational.org/" target="_blank" class="external">Refugees International</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9012"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/09/iraq-idps-returning-to-diyala-province-in-increasing-numbers/#respond" title="Comment on IRAQ: IDPs returning to Diyala Province in increasing numbers">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 9th, 2010 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/09/iraq-idps-returning-to-diyala-province-in-increasing-numbers/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to IRAQ: IDPs returning to Diyala Province in increasing numbers">IRAQ: IDPs returning to Diyala Province in increasing numbers</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returns-of-refugeesidps/" rel="tag">returns of refugees/IDPs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unami/" rel="tag">UNAMI</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 9 March 2010 (<a title="IRIN" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=88363" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – The security situation in Iraq’s northeastern province of Diyala is slowly improving and thousands of displaced families have returned to their homes, according to officials. </p> <p>"Despite the fact that the security situation in some parts of the province is not good, some areas where the security situation has improved are witnessing good return levels," said Thari Mohammed, a senior official in the Ministry of Displacement and Migration in Diyala. </p> <p>Mohammed said about 12,900 displaced families (roughly 77,000 individuals) had returned to their homes between late 2008 and 31 December 2009. A further 39,000 families were still displaced – 13,000 within the province and 26,000 in other provinces, Mohammed said. </p> <p>Some 12,500 families who had returned in the above time period had received the government’s one-off grant of one million Iraqi dinars (US$850) and other aid to help them resume their lives. The remaining 400 families were expected to receive this aid soon. His office had also helped people return to their former jobs. </p> <p>Diyala, sandwiched between Baghdad and the Iranian border, has been a major insurgent stronghold since the US-led invasion in 2003. In late 2008 Iraqi and US forces launched a crackdown, and the religiously mixed province witnessed fierce clashes. </p> <p>According to a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-82XRYK?OpenDocument ">23 February statement</a> from the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Diyala has the second highest number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) after Baghdad. Some 300,000 Diyala residents fled their homes after 2006. </p> <h3>To return or not to return? </h3> <p>Hasiba Jabir, a 54-year-old mother of six who fled the province in late 2007 with her family, is among those who have returned. She said financial difficulties had forced her to return. </p> <p>"At the beginning [of our displacement] we stayed at a relative’s house in Baghdad, but we couldn’t continue like that as the house was too small for two families, so we rented a small house for about $500 a month," said Jabir, who is a retired English teacher. </p> <p>"As of last July, my husband also retired and we lost a big chunk of our income and resources and therefore we decided to go back," she said. "Although there are sporadic attacks, the situation is better than in 2007 when we left." </p> <p>But Khalid Jalil Mohammed, another IDP from Diyala, is not convinced. </p> <p>"The security situation in the province is still not good enough for me and my family [to return]," said Mohammed, a barber who left his home in Diyala in early 2007. "I’m happy with my work here [in Baghdad] and my sisters and brothers are also happy with their schools and universities, and we do not need to put ourselves at risk," he said. </p> <p>Meanwhile, attacks in Diyala are still taking place: On 3 March three suicide bombers killed 32 and injured dozens of others, Diyala police spokesman Capt Ghalib al-Karkhi said. </p> <p>sm/at/cb</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=88363" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: IDPs returning to Diyala Province in increasing numbers | Middle East | Iraq | Conflict Refugees/IDPs | News Item</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-8312"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/01/15/louis-sako-synod-of-middle-east-churches-mission-and-a-return-to-dialogue/#respond" title="Comment on Louis Sako: Synod of Middle East Churches: mission and a return to dialogue">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 15th, 2010 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/01/15/louis-sako-synod-of-middle-east-churches-mission-and-a-return-to-dialogue/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Louis Sako: Synod of Middle East Churches: mission and a return to dialogue">Louis Sako: Synod of Middle East Churches: mission and a return to dialogue</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/archbishop-louis-sako/" rel="tag">Archbishop Louis Sako</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asia-news/" rel="tag">Asia News</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholic-archbishop/" rel="tag">catholic archbishop</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholic-church/" rel="tag">Catholic Church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean-catholic/" rel="tag">chaldean catholic</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean-church/" rel="tag">chaldean church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-arab-contribution-to-region/" rel="tag">Christian Arab contribution to region</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-ecumenism-need-for/" rel="tag">Christian ecumenism - need for</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-institutions/" rel="tag">christian institutions</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-minority/" rel="tag">christian minority</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-political-parties/" rel="tag">Christian political parties</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christian-population-decline-of/" rel="tag">Christian population - decline of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christianity/" rel="tag">Christianity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians-persecution-of/" rel="tag">Christians - persecution of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/crusaders/" rel="tag">crusaders</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/egypt/" rel="tag">Egypt</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islam/" rel="tag">Islam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kirkuk/" rel="tag">Kirkuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/law-equality-before-the/" rel="tag">law - equality before the</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/lebanon/" rel="tag">Lebanon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/palestine/" rel="tag">Palestine</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religion/" rel="tag">Religion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/religious-education/" rel="tag">religious education</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vatican/" rel="tag">Vatican</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a8%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b3%d9%8a%d8%ad%d9%8a%d9%8a%d9%86/" rel="tag">بالمسيحيين</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="border-right: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: lightgrey 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 0.5em 0px 1em 2em; border-left: lightgrey 1px solid; width: 360px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: lightgrey 1px solid"> <p>According to the Archbishop of Kirkuk (Iraq), one of the main driving forces behind the Synod, to save the Christian presence in the Muslim Middle East, a renewal of the identity of the original Church is needed: not as a cultural and "ethnic" group, but a mature adhesion to the faith. We need more unity among Christians, divided into countless groups and traditions. And a mature dialogue with Islamic communities, showing them the important contribution of Christians in the past and present history of Arab culture. </p> <p><strong>Editor’s Note:</strong> Louis Sako is the Archbishop of Kirkuk</p> </p></div> <p>Kirkuk (<a title="AsiaNews" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Synod-of-Middle-East-Churches:-mission-and-a-return-to-dialogue-17345.html" class="external" target="_blank">AsiaNews</a>) – Christians in the East are decreasing in numbers due to wars, migration, low birth rates, the expansion of Islam and divisions within the community itself. The threats and pressures to sell land and houses, bought by Muslims and with the support – including economic – of fundamentalists, suggests that the Christian presence in the Middle East is destined disappear.    </p> <p>The Synod of the Churches of the Middle East can help us avoid this fate if we go to the roots of the crisis.  </p> <p>The early Church (which was Middle Eastern) was close to people and presented the Gospel message conforming to the culture of the people, proclaiming the faith in their own language, so that the message was attractive and effective. The prophetic role of the Church was manifest and worked in the truth and from it, people were able to derive meaning for their lives and a sign of great freedom and dignity. For this reason, many converted and decided to embrace Christianity.    <br/>Today, the Christian presence is a cultural one, a historical and tradition-bound presence, an ethnic identity according to the millet system, which is a perfected form of the Institute of Islamic dhimma [the pact of "protection" for non-Muslims, which made Christians and Jews second class citizens - ed.] The Apostolic Churches, however, have lost the enthusiasm of their origins in the work of witness: the role of prophecy, love and zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel to others.    </p> <p>The future of the community depends on several factors, two of which are of fundamental importance: the relationship between Christians, i.e relations between the different Churches and the relationship with Muslims.  </p> <h3>The relations between Christians    </h3> <p>Christians today need to promote, in a continuous and influential manner, a culture of love and dialogue, openness and diversity. Current divisions leave a strong and negative mark on their presence and their testimony. The relationship between the various churches is going through difficult times and seems to move backward.    </p> <p>The Church is the community of believers who look to Christ and testify to the announcement of Good News, which is continuously renewed. The Church can not merely limit itself to being a sociological, ethnic or cultural entity… Preaching the Gospel means welcoming the Good News with the commitment to live it and correcting erred behaviour. Baptism becomes the culmination of the journey of faith. This should be done not only with the elite, but also with simple people.      </p> <p>Most churches in the Middle East are small churches and live with an identity crisis because of their dual membership (i.e.: ethnic identity of a political, social and cultural nature and the one linked to the universality of their mission). And groups of evangelical churches: do we call them churches in the nominal sense or are they rooted or tradition?      We need a serious self-criticism and to reconsider our reality and our mission. The future depends on our cooperation, our service and our witness. We are one family, we must overcome the barriers that divide us. We are united in the Word of God, we have the same profession of faith, despite the differences in form, and generally, the same sacraments. We must strive for mutual enrichment and deepen all the peculiarities of our faith in God’s love, forgiveness, the joy that comes from welcoming.    </p> <p>We all need to be patient and learn to read history, to assess the facts impartially without emotion. The real strategy is to work together Christians of Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Even the Christian political parties are divided and in conflict, they must unite to support the Christian presence, otherwise our fate will be of wailing and lamentation in front of our land.    </p> <h3>Dialogue with Islam    </h3> <p>Today the affirmation of political Islam is clear. It has made this religious identity the central one in the Middle East. This identity has overshadowed the Arab nationalist ideology (the umma) and political participation derives from the principles of Islam.    </p> <p>Together Christian churches and not isolated, must talk to face this reality and establish rules of civil coexistence.    </p> <p>Dialogue with Islam is the only civilian rule, effective for interacting with everyone, taking into account all that has been achieved over the course of history especially during the periods known as the Ommiad (7th – 8th century) and Abbasids (8th – 13th  century).    </p> <p>Christians have an obligation today to offer theological approaches to the faith in a new and understandable language, the line of biblical theology rather than in a classic, philosophical language.  </p> <p>In this dialogue, they must be allowed to demonstrate the contribution they have given to the Arab and Islamic civilization, the history of these regions is not entirely Muslim, but pluralistic, and make sure it is recognised that the Christian Arab factor is a source of enrichment rather than depletion . They must clearly state that they had no relation with the Crusaders when they invaded the East; nor with the colonial powers that invaded the Arab countries without taking the national charter into account; nor with the occupation forces in Iraq and Afghanistan; they have always supported the cause of the Palestinians. These points are very important at the level of Muslim public awareness.    <br/>Dialogue is the only way to resolve differences and restore security and stability. The opening up of Christians, their qualifications and skills may be useful for Muslims. For this we must encourage:    </p> <p>a) adoption of new programs of religious education, based on tolerance and acceptance of others, refraining from all forms of violence.    </p> <p>b) ensure that all are equal before law with equal rights – without any discrimination of race, religion or sex – which creates trust and improves coexistence, strengthening the sense of responsibility of each individual.    </p> <p>c) a commitment to promoting and encouraging solidarity with the poor and marginalized, whatever their race, colour or religion, overcoming injustices and wrongs.   </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Synod-of-Middle-East-Churches:-mission-and-a-return-to-dialogue-17345.html" class="external" target="_blank">VATICAN – MIDDLE EAST Synod of Middle East Churches: mission and a return to dialogue</a> by Archbishop Louis Sako – <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.asianews.it/en.html" class="external" target="_blank">Asia News</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-7932"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/12/15/migrants-lured-to-iraq-stranded-there-as-funds-dry-up-to-assist-them-to-return-home/#respond" title="Comment on Migrants Lured to Iraq Stranded There as Funds Dry Up to Assist Them to Return Home">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 15th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/12/15/migrants-lured-to-iraq-stranded-there-as-funds-dry-up-to-assist-them-to-return-home/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Migrants Lured to Iraq Stranded There as Funds Dry Up to Assist Them to Return Home">Migrants Lured to Iraq Stranded There as Funds Dry Up to Assist Them to Return Home</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bangladesh/" rel="tag">Bangladesh</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iom/" rel="tag">IOM</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pakistan/" rel="tag">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sudan/" rel="tag">Sudan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/uganda/" rel="tag">Uganda</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>Requests for assistance to help stranded migrants lured to Iraq under false pretences or unknowingly taken to work there by unscrupulous recruitment agencies are unable to be met as funds for such assistance have dried up this year. </p> <p>IOM is urgently seeking US$2.5 million to help up to 700 destitute migrants, some of whom have been trafficked to Iraq for labour exploitation, to return home in the next two years. </p> <p>In previous years, the Organization has been able to assist many hundreds of desperate migrants each year to return home. In 2009, only 32 migrants have been assisted through an emergency fund to provide humanitarian assistance to individual migrants stranded in another country. </p> <p>"We know there are large groups from different nationalities whose situation is really dire. Life for Iraqis is difficult. It is worse for migrants. This is an issue that needs specific address," says Mike Pillinger, IOM Chief of Mission for Iraq. </p> <p>Despite Iraq’s instability and difficult security and socio-economic conditions, the country is, nevertheless, a destination country for migrants from mainly Asia and Africa. </p> <p>Many are lured by the possibility of making easy money in sectors like construction, carpentry and domestic labour. Migrants from countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Uganda are often coerced to sign false employment contracts once in Iraq. Their passports are confiscated and they become victims of exploitation and abuse, working in inhumane conditions. For the privilege, they have had to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which have put them and their families in debt.</p> <p>Others had used recruitment agents to go to the Middle East or the Gulf but ended up in Iraq against their will, in similarly abusive situations. </p> <p>In other cases, such as for Sudanese migrants who have lived in Iraq for several years, the deterioration in employment conditions has left them penniless with few opportunities, poor guarantees and no means to return home. </p> <p>IOM has helped more than 7,000 migrants of nearly 40 different nationalities in the past six years. As funding has dried up, the number of stranded migrants needing assistance has increased although the true scale of the problem is unknown.  </p> <p>"It will be impossible to get a really clear picture on numbers of migrants needing help as many are too scared to try and seek help because of possible repercussions. What we do know is that there are hundreds of extremely vulnerable people each year who need help and who are not getting it. Not being able to help them is extremely hard," adds Pillinger. </p> <p>For further information, please contact:</p> <p>Rex Alamban <br/>IOM Iraq <br/>Tel: +00962 65659660 <br/>E-mail: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/mailto:ralamban@iom.int">ralamban@iom.int</a></p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/media/press-briefing-notes/pbnAF/cache/offonce?entryId=26714" class="external" target="_blank">IOM – Press Briefing Notes – Migrants Stranded in Iraq as Funds Dry Up to Assist Them to Return Home</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-7922"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/12/14/the-dust-bowl-of-babylon/#respond" title="Comment on The Dust Bowl of Babylon">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 14th, 2009 by Editors</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/2009/12/14/the-dust-bowl-of-babylon/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to The Dust Bowl of Babylon">The Dust Bowl of Babylon</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/agriculture/" rel="tag">Agriculture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bottled-water/" rel="tag">Bottled water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dams/" rel="tag">Dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drought/" rel="tag">drought</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/farmers/" rel="tag">farmers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/features/" rel="tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gulf-states/" rel="tag">Gulf States</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gulf-war/" rel="tag">Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hoshyar-zebari/" rel="tag">Hoshyar Zebari</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hts/" rel="tag">HTS</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/infrastructure/" rel="tag">infrastructure</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran/" rel="tag">Iran</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irrigation/" rel="tag">irrigation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/marsh-arabs/" rel="tag">marsh arabs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/marshes/" rel="tag">marshes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/marshland/" rel="tag">marshland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/marshlands/" rel="tag">marshlands</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east-online/" rel="tag">Middle East Online</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/najaf/" rel="tag">Najaf</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nasiriyah/" rel="tag">Nasiriyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rainfall/" rel="tag">rainfall</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reconstruction/" rel="tag">Reconstruction</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-city/" rel="tag">Sadr City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sandstorms/" rel="tag">sandstorms</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi/" rel="tag">Saudi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/snow/" rel="tag">Snow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/strikes/" rel="tag">Strikes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unesco/" rel="tag">UNESCO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">مدينة الصدر‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-buffalo/" rel="tag">Water Buffalo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-crisis/" rel="tag">Water Crisis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-issue/" rel="tag">water issue</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-level/" rel="tag">water level</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-resources/" rel="tag">water resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortage/" rel="tag">water shortage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-shortages/" rel="tag">Water Shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/zagros-mountains/" rel="tag">zagros mountains</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p> </p> <blockquote><p><b>The Dust Bowl of Babylon</b></p> <p>Are crippling droughts the next great threat to Iraq? Asks <b>Martin Chulov</b>.</p> <p>BAGHDAD — From his mud brick home on the edge of the Garden of Eden, Awda Khasaf has twice seen his country’s lifeblood seep away. The waters that once spread from his doorstep across a 20% slab of Iraq known as the Marshlands first disappeared in 1991, when Saddam Hussein diverted them east to punish the rebellious Marsh Arabs. The wetlands have been crucial to Iraq since the earliest days of civilization — sustaining the lives of up to half a million people who live in and around the area, while providing water for almost two million more. </p> <p>The waters vanished after the First Gulf War due to a dictator’s wrath; over the next 16 years, they ebbed and flowed, but slowly started to return to their pre-Saddam levels. By 2007, with no more sabotage and average rains, almost 70% of the lost water had been recovered. Now it’s gone again. This time because of a crisis far more endemic: a devastating drought and the water policies of neighboring Turkey, Iran, and Syria. These three nations have effectively stopped most of the headwaters of the three rivers — the Tigris, Euphrates, and Karoon — that feed these marshes. </p> <p>“Once in a generation was bad enough,” says Awda, a tribal head and local sheikh in the al-Akeryah Marshlands, who also advises the Nasiriyah governorate on water issues. “Twice could well be God’s vengeance.” </p> <p>In a land where fundamental interpretations of monotheistic scripts often determine the tone of public discourse, particular attention is now being paid to the biblical Book of Revelation, in which the Euphrates River drying up was prophesized as a harbinger for the end of the world. It is not doomsday yet in Iraq, but the water shortage here has not been worse for at least the last two centuries — and possibly for several millennia more. Government estimates suggest close to two million Iraqis face severe drinking water shortages and extremely limited hydropower-generated electricity in a part of the country where most households get by on no more than eight hours of supplied power per day, in the best of times. </p> <p>The flow of the Euphrates that reaches Iraq is down, according to scientific estimates, by 50% to 70% and falling further by the week. From his frugal office in Baghdad’s National Center for Water Management, engineer Zuhair Hassan Ahmed has for the past decade plotted the water levels of the Euphrates and the Tigris, the latter of which bisects the Iraqi capital. The hand-etched ink graphs show a black line that marks an average “water year,” from October to May, superimposed over a green line, which shows the actual flow through the two rivers over the same time. The green line had been markedly lower than the benchmark for much of the past decade. But in 2007 — the start of a serious drought — it dipped sharply and has continued to fall. </p> <p>In Baghdad, the lack of water has been an inconvenience, an eyesore, and a health hazard. Raw sewage and refuse pumped into the Tigris is not flushed downstream as rapidly as it once was. The Tigris is Baghdad’s main artery, but it is also still a working river, long traversed by small commuter ferries, industrial barges, and, in the city’s halcyon days, even pleasure boats. Giant mud islands now protrude from the once wide, blue expanse of the river, making it unnavigable for larger vessels. Further downstream, and especially along the Euphrates — which runs roughly on a parallel track west though Iraq’s bread basket — the effects of the shortage are far worse. </p> <p>Between Two Rivers </p> </p> <p>Here, in the land between the two rivers that was once the heartland of ancient Mesopotamia, the water crisis has ravaged agriculture, an industry still struggling to regain its footing after three decades of deprivation and war. This was the second mooted site (the other was the Marshlands themselves) of the fabled Garden of Eden — a land so rich in soil and water that it would quench the needs of its dwellers throughout eternity. It doesn’t look quite like that now. Crops of grain, barley, mint, and dates have failed almost en masse. Further west, in Anbar province, a prized rice variety that was once sold at a premium throughout Iraq and in the markets of neighboring countries has just been harvested. Like almost all other crops, this year’s yield is a disaster. </p> <p>“We blame the Turks for this,” says Hatem al-Ansari, a local Anbar rice grower who claims to have lost half his family’s life savings since January 2009 due to a lack of water to irrigate his rice. “We have been digging wells nearby, and so has the government, but it is not enough. Not even close.” Shielding his face with a black scarf from a sandstorm blowing in on an acetylene desert wind, Hatem points in the direction of the Euphrates’ upper reaches. “If you go down to the bank, you will see where the water was last year and last week,” he says. “Our water pumps can no longer reach it. It’s true it hasn’t been raining, but it’s just as true that even 30% of normal rainfall does not cripple a mighty river like this.” He had to be taken on his word. The swirling sand and dust were starting to turn the sky an ochre-orange haze and was steadily closing like a shroud on us all, making an inspection of the river bank impossible. </p> <p>Sandstorms have long been a fixture of Iraqi summers — on average, there are about eight to ten each hot season. But this year they became a pandemic. Close to 40 sandstorms blew in during the five months from May to early October. Some lasted three days at a time, sheeting farms with suffocating silt, closing airports, and adding another layer of misery to a society that has been through hell. </p> <p>Lack of water for irrigation, especially in Anbar, is a key problem. Iraq’s water minister, Dr. Abdul Rashid Latif, says that the government dug an extra 1,000 wells over the past two years, taking advantage of a relatively high groundwater table. But drawing on a diminishing resource during a time of drought has proved costly. “We now have only around 20% of our original reserves left,” he says. “And the thing about this water is that not much of it is being replenished.” </p> <p><b></b> </p> <p>“The Scent of a Dying Ecosystem” </p> </p> <p>Iraq’s water numbers make for disturbing reading across the board. Government estimates put total reservoir storage at around 9% of nationwide capacity on the leading edge of a wet season that is not forecast to bring much relief. For the past two years, rainfall was some 70% lower than usual in most of Iraq’s 18 provinces. </p> <p>The snow melt that usually feeds the Tigris system from the Zagros Mountains in the Kurdish north was equally deficient. There are now seven dams on the adjoining Euphrates system, most in Turkey and Syria, with plans for at least one more. And then there are the rampant inefficiencies built into Iraq’s antiquated 8,000 miles of canals and drains, which send countless millions of gallons gushing into parts of the country that have little use for the water, and no means to harness it even if they did. </p> <p>Some have looked to the heavens to explain the lack of rain. Society here is deeply superstitious. Many Iraqis, from the Sunni Arabs of Anbar to the tribes of the Marshlands, believe the natural deficiencies are God-ordained — and possibly a punishment for the sectarian ravages that have torn the country apart over the last three years. </p> <p>“Droughts have happened before and will plague us again,” says Awda as he surveys the vast expanse of hard-baked and cracked brown mud in front of him that used to be the Marshlands. “But not even in ’91 was the water like this. Now there is nothing.” The only water left in the maze of feeder streams that empty into this giant basin are pools of lime-colored stagnant ooze. Nothing flows. Ducks and geese sit listlessly on creek banks that have not been exposed in decades — if ever — to direct sunlight. Infestations of flies circle like Saturn’s rings around giant, steel barrels of drinking water, imported from the nearby city of Nasiriyah, that line village roads. Reeds that were once the staple of the agrarian peoples who worked this waterway through the ages jut starkly from the banks, nearly all of them yellow and hardened, looking more like medieval weapons of war than crops. </p> <p>Earlier this fall, the major tributaries of the Euphrates were flowing at around 30% of their normal levels. “Look at that mark on the bank,” says Awda, pointing to a stain on a corrugated iron beam at the base of the bridge. Not long ago, he notes, this had been a high-water mark. The waterline is now at least nine feet lower. The pungent murk of the riverbed lingers in the air. “Take a deep breath,” says Awda. “That smell is the scent of a dying ecosystem.” </p> <p>Two fishermen, who had launched themselves into what remained of the waterway in a bid to net carp, return to the banks with their haul — 12 fish, none bigger than 10 inches. The catch is not enough to feed their families, let alone take to market. Two years ago, the fish were fat and bountiful. </p> <p>“Fishing is our staple here,” explains one local man, Sheikh Hameed from Abart village, further north of the Marshlands. “That, and hunting water birds. But they’ve all flown away. I had a stall here for many years,” he recalls, pointing to an abandoned roadside hut, where he used to sell his catch. </p> <p>The white polystyrene crates that used to hold the fish on ice are now home to street cats and sand drifts. A giant water buffalo, which once spent the best part of the summer immersed in the water, is now making do with what remains. He stands motionless, buried to the midriff in a festering, black mud. The caked soil cast offers at least some respite from the heat, but with the temperature expected to hover between 118 and 124 degrees Fahrenheit for the following week, he doesn’t have long left to wallow. </p> <p>“We are digging wells for our own survival,” says Sheikh Hameed. “And this in the most water-rich area of the country. This is not God’s wrath. This is the work of people.” </p> <p><b></b> </p> <p>Tweaking the Tap </p> </p> <p>Over the past six chaotic years, new reservoirs have been built into the Euphrates system on both the Syrian and Turkish sides of the border. Iraq, as a downstream country, would have likely suffered from serious water depletion even if it had a government strong enough to assert its authority against two powerful neighbors. But with a political class struggling to win legitimacy amid a sectarian war that has torn the country apart along ancient societal fault lines, there has been little time to tend even to the bare basics of survival. Delivery of services has been close to non-existent, from the national government down to village mayors. Now, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki claiming to run a credible sovereign state, work has begun in earnest on talking to the neighbors about many issues of Iraqi sovereignty, including border integrity, that have remained sidelined throughout the post-war turmoil. </p> <p>“They should realize that we are an important neighbor and share many things in life,” says Dr. Rashid, who has three times led Iraqi delegations to Istanbul and Damascus to beg for more water. He has returned with promises, but little fruit for his labors. With no treaties or agreements signed with either state, however, he has little leverage. “Our neighboring countries need to get the message that it is our right to get our share of water from these two international rivers and that we should have a say in their operational procedures because we are downstream. In our discussions they have never connected the water issues with any other issues.” </p> <p>There is trouble, too, from Iran, whose government earlier this year ordered the diversion back into Iranian territory of a key tributary of the Tigris — the Karoon River, which enters Iraq just north of the southern city of Basra. Until early this year, the Karoon had sent regularly a vital flush of freshwater down the Tigris and into the Shatt al-Arab waterway at the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf. The freshwater pushed back the tidal effect and allowed tens of thousands of Iraqis from the southern Marshlands to make their livelihood through fishing and farming. “There were 13 billion cubic meters of freshwater [annually] feeding into the Shatt al-Arab,” says Dr. Rashid. “Now that has gone. We have asked them to sit down and talk but they won’t even answer our requests.” </p> <p>In late October 2009, Iraqi technicians finally met with their Iranian counterparts. “They were told about the effect on the people in the south who are exclusively Shias — their people,” says Iraq’s foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari. “They were very embarrassed by this and promised to look into it.” Today, the saltwater of the relentless tides around Basra is still winning the push-me, pull-you game and, like a rampaging army, has pushed farther north up the waterway than ever before. As a result, some 30,000 locals have left their land, some of which has now been heavily salinated, leaving it of marginal agricultural value at best. </p> <p>Across Iraq, entire ecosystems are under threat. So far, redress from the Turks and the Syrians has consisted only of sympathetic words, followed by the occasional tweak of the tap. “We need 500 cubic meters per second,” Dr. Rashid said in August. “We have been getting 350 meters on some days, but 150 meters on average. They have promised us more, but we have yet to see it.” In the months that followed, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey three times announced a boost in the headwater flow from the Euphrates. But by late autumn, the downstream effect had been negligible. </p> <p>The giant power station in the city of Nasiriyah was still using only two of its four turbines that are normally powered by the flow of the Euphrates. One had broken down, but could not have been used anyway because, along with a second turbine, there was not enough moving water to power it. Nasiriyah was getting by on about six to eight hours of power a day — roughly the same as the rest of the country. </p> <p>Throughout the summer and fall, engineers at the power station were desperately hoping the river would not fall another eight inches, to a level that would have left Iraq’s fourth-largest city without any electricity whatsoever. “We saw it rise a centimeter or two, roughly two days after every announcement from the Turks, but it would soon drop away,” says an engineer at the power station. “The figures we were being promised were not translating into tangibles.” </p> <p><b></b> </p> <p>The Rains Cometh Not </p> </p> <p>Both Turkey and Syria have been suffering from the same rainfall deficiency as Iraq. The winter storm fronts that once formed regularly near Cyprus and swept east through Syria, Jordan, and Iraq have been rare over the past three years, as have the low-pressure systems that could usually be counted on to dip south into Turkey from the Balkans and the Russian steppe. Cloud seeding and the contentious science of rain-making have been considered in all four countries. </p> <p>Jordanians, in particular, remember the 1991 winter season, when seeding was attempted near Cyprus. That year, six separate snow-bearing storm fronts swept through the country, leaving yard-deep snow drifts on the streets of the capital, Amman, for many weeks. Heavy snow also fell across the Iraqi desert plains and the Zagros Mountains. The snow melt that autumn saw the Tigris burst its banks in Baghdad. Upstream in Turkey, there is still enough reliable winter rainfall to keep the dams brimming and make cloud seeding unnecessary. Downstream in Iraq, where the water is needed most, there is neither money nor interest for such an experiment. </p> <p>Even the ancient ways are starting to fail. From June to August of this year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) conducted research into the status of ancient, natural subterranean aqueducts used both for human settlement and irrigation in the Kurdish north. The UNESCO results painted a bleak picture of water resources in northern Iraq, which had for centuries boasted relatively bountiful supplies, even during harsh times. The UNESCO study found that 70% of the aqueducts, known as karez, that were producing water in 2005 had since dried up and been abandoned. Of the 683 karez surveyed, most were not functioning, due largely to excessive use and ongoing drought — only 116 still delivered water. The study claimed that 36,000 people were at risk of being displaced, while tens of thousands more had already left their lands. </p> <p>Figures in Iraq are always open to a degree of conjecture, but one reality is now clear: the water crisis is leading to mass migrations of people and a renewed displacement at both ends of the country, just as some order was starting to replace the bedlam of the invasion and civil war. Iraqis have been returning to their homes in mixed neighborhoods in Baghdad, but now rural people, fleeing in droves from the increasingly arid provinces, are also showing up in urban centers. </p> <p>The Marsh Arabs have left their lands in large numbers, according to Nasiriyah’s governor, Qusey al-Ebadi, who has yet to find ways to accommodate them. “They are nomadic people and move around during difficult times,” says al-Ebadi, “but I have never seen them coming into the cities with their animals like this.” The men of the Marshlands — now far from their ancestral lands — mill around in small groups on street corners in Nasiriyah, many searching for laboring work, looking incongruous and desperate. </p> <p>The people from the Shatt al-Arab area of the southern Marshlands also need accommodating. Government estimates suggest as many as 30,000 have left their lands, all but abandoning their agrarian livelihoods. Thousands more have been pushed to the brink of survival. If the Tigris and the Karoon do not flow again toward the Shatt al-Arab, the ecosystem they have relied on is all but finished. </p> <p>The water crisis could not have come at a worse time for Prime Minister al-Maliki, who has spent much of his time and energy as leader attempting to win enough authority to assert his will. His formula had been security first and stability second, followed by delivery of services. So far, he has achieved qualified approval on the first two, but abject failure on the third. </p> <p>Iraq’s energy sector is in a desperate state of disrepair. In late October, a rare thunder and lightning storm that brought the first rains to Baghdad in seven months caused power to crash citywide for eight hours. Even without rain, or other disturbances such as dust or wind, most residents of the capital are getting by on no more than a half-day of regular electricity, the vast bulk supplied by coal-burning energy plants that generate power channeled by substations resembling museum pieces. What little electricity supply exists is frequently targeted by militias who boast of their intent to return the society (literally) to the dark ages. Sewer lines have only been dug in the most affluent areas and city roads are, at best, rudimentary. </p> <p>With a national election looming in early March, al-Maliki knows that his current base of support across Iraq’s religious and ethnic divides is fragile. Failure to give Iraqis the essential services they have long craved — especially electricity, water, and sewerage –will likely spell his doom. Twice this fall, he has traveled to the Shia bastion of Basra to assess the plight of the Shatt al-Arab and to persuade locals that all is not lost. It is a hard sell for the people of the south, who collectively still see themselves as being as deeply deprived today as they were under Saddam. </p> <p>For the prime minister to blame his nation’s neighbors for water woes is unlikely to fly. Beyond the troubles over the water supply, al-Maliki has pointedly accused Syria of destabilizing Iraq by sheltering former Baathists, who, he claims, funded two bombing campaigns that targeted three government ministries and the Baghdad municipal government headquarters in August and October. All four buildings were annihilated, with almost 300 people killed and more than 1,000 maimed. While wagging his finger at Damascus, al-Maliki has also been constantly promising patronage to the southern tribes and an entrée to state coffers if they fall in behind him. Months before a definitive election and amid an unparalleled ecological crisis, the tribes are, at best, restless. And water is near the top of their worry list. </p> <p><b></b> </p> <p>Enough Blame to Go Around </p> </p> <p>“The government didn’t do this directly, it’s true,” says tribesman Maher al-Zubaidi, as he surveys the shrinking Euphrates in Nasiriyah. “But they tell us they are strong now and yet they can’t stand up to the Turks. Wars have started in this region for a lot less. Also, Iraq constantly cries poor, yet we read about the trade minister taking a cut from every kilo of imported grain and see enormous revenues from oil. The time has long past for them to deliver.” </p> <p>The Turks, though sympathetic to the plight of their downstream neighbors, lay much of the blame at the feet of Iraqi bureaucrats who have done next to nothing to protect an already precious natural resource from atrocious water management practices. It is not uncommon to see burst water-mains spouting geysers through Baghdad’s parched suburbs or across village roads, quickly mixing with refuse and oil, turning into giant molasses-like pools. Almost all public taps invariably leak, and environmental awareness is close to nonexistent. </p> <p>Publicly, Turkey will say nothing on the subject of its water dispute with Iraq, other than that it is working with both Syria and Iran to remedy the situation and has agreed to share daily technical data with both sides on flows. After recent floods near Istanbul, a limited extra release was allowed into the Euphrates system. It was soon stopped. The saga was symptomatic of Iraq’s dilemma and its lack of means to do much about it. Again, Baghdad had to make do with what its neighbors could spare on a good day. Iraq is yet to press its case for water rights under international law and, with its hand weakened by so many ongoing woes, the government does not currently hold much sway in the region. </p> <p>The torpor is of no comfort to Iraq’s downstream dwellers. Back in al-Akeryah Marshlands, Awda Khasaf kicks a splintering skiff that used to ply the lowland waterways. The last six months, he says, have changed everything. “If the Turks release all the water that used to come down the Euphrates, then the Marshes will fill up again within two months and we will recover. But that is not going to happen. They caught the government off guard while it was obsessed with the war and now they have a chokehold on us. This has had a revolutionary effect. The Turks have the upper-hand and until we are strong enough to stand up for ourselves, all we can do is pray for a flood. Look at them. They are not serious about helping us. They are trying to build another dam [the Ilus hydroelectric plant planned for southeastern Turkey, on the northern reaches of the Tigris]. Only when we can stand up can we address this. For now…” He leaves the last thought hanging, possibly conjuring up the same apocalyptic vision that started our conversation: only the good Lord can save us. </p> <p>In the short term, it would appear that divine intervention is Iraq’s best hope. The means to address water management effectively seem decades away. Much of the country’s infrastructure belongs in scrap yards or exhibits of nineteenth-century industrial artifacts. Re-laying water pipes nationwide for urban water delivery would likely take the better part of a generation. Desalination has been considered during cabinet meetings and projects have been offered by investors from the cash-rich Gulf states, which rely heavily, if not exclusively, on desalinated water. But Iraqi officials have so far described the costs as prohibitive. “It might work out for a small state like Abu Dhabi that doesn’t need tens of thousands of kilometers of pipeline,” says one minister. “But for us, it is a non-starter for now.” </p> <p><b></b> </p> <p>Globalization Woes </p> </p> <p>The crisis of 2009 has revealed some domestic inefficiencies that Iraq’s farmers will struggle to reverse. Wholesalers have been able to import and distribute fresh produce at market rates that compete successfully with what domestic consumers would have paid for locally grown produce. Hundreds of tons of bananas have been flown in from Somalia, watermelons from Iran, rice from the Far East, and bottled water from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. </p> <p>Water woes are playing a big part in turning Iraq into a net food importer. But so are the cost-efficient alternatives introduced to the Iraqi market by companies in both developing states and Western nations, all of which are clamoring to service some 20 million people who, for the most part, have always relied on homegrown produce. </p> <p>Apart from small pockets that can still harness water from the Euphrates, much of Iraq’s politically and strategically critical Anbar province is now a dust bowl. So, too, is Diyala province, north of Baghdad, which boasts some of the most fertile alluvial soil in the land. Both areas were ground zero for the Sunni militancy — Anbar the so-called triangle of death, Diyala the declared heartland of a new Islamic caliphate in 2006. The al-Maliki government had hoped to appease insurgents with the promise of prosperity. But as 2009 draws to a close, the notion seems fanciful. Family incomes are down substantially in many areas. The violence, successfully quelled throughout the past two years, is again on the rise, especially in Anbar. </p> <p>Iraq’s provinces and some of its most dangerous towns have been the focus of work throughout the past five years by American reconstruction teams, especially the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which in October wound up its mission. The engineers left, claiming that 21.2 million Iraqis now had access to potable drinking water, up from just over 5 million people immediately after the invasion. Last year, in the giant Sadr City slum in Baghdad’s northeast, the Army Corps built a treatment plant which draws and purifies water from the Tigris. The net effect, the Army claims, has been an increase from 46 to 200 in the per capita liters of water per day for Sadr City residents. The bill for the project was $65 million. </p> <p>In all, the engineers completed 25 large water distribution projects across the country as well as 800 smaller water sector projects that delivered potable water to many Iraqis who had no such luxury before Saddam fell. But now the engineers are gone. Gone with them is the bulk of America’s capacity to do more good works before the White House orders the last troops out late next year. </p> <p>Water distribution at the micro level is undoubtedly better than it was. But in a macro sense, the efforts amount to a small splash in a large pond. Iraq has giant subterranean lakes of another precious resource — oil — under the soil at both ends of the country and appears to be betting its future on turning anticipated revenues into purchasing power and regional clout today. </p> <p>Oil is Iraq’s meal ticket — a buffer against both drought and geopolitical impotence. The cabinet has been absorbed over the past six months with finding a formula that offers foreign investors enough financial incentives to bring their expertise to the badlands, while at the same time retaining control of the oil sector and the billions of petro-dollars it is likely to produce. But while the promise of future riches and power may see the waters flow again one day, on the barren plains of Iraq’s south a simpler business plan is taking shape. </p> <p>Alongside the highway between Baghdad and Basra — a giant, Saddam-era, four-lane road built to move tanks and troops — a rare agricultural success story is emerging. To travel this road in 2005-06 was to almost guarantee a run-in with a militia group, or an angry burst of bullets fired from a nearby sand berm. It remained a no-go zone to most non-Iraqis until the middle of 2008. By then, scorched wrecks of tankers lined the highway along with the charred chassis of the occasional American Hummer or private security company four-wheel-drive vehicle, conspicuous by its blackened, rusting bulk. </p> <p>Even today, giant scabs of charred bitumen are missing along the entire stretch to Basra, legacies of improvised bombs and aerial strikes that turned Iraq’s main arterial highway into a Mad Max-like wasteland. But now, dozens of salt farms line both sides of the road. There had always been a small salt industry, especially in the center of Iraq, near the cities of Babylon and Najaf, but with rapid water depletion turning lakes into shallow, salinated pools, dozens of small enterprises have now sprung up. Salt, piled in pyramid-style heaps, pockmarks the horizon of a barren landscape once covered in year-round sheets of water. One farmer sold his flock of goats to concentrate on salt. “I have around 190 kilos here,” he says, pointing at his pile. “It’s much more [profit] than I will get this year from dates.” </p> <p>The salt is then taken to market in Baghdad, where a small export industry is tipped to develop this year. Until the oil money kicks in or its neighbors turn on the taps again, success in the salt pans is likely to be a rare high-water mark for Iraq. In the short term, it would appear that divine intervention is Iraq’s best hope. The means to address water management effectively seems decades away. </p> <p><b></b> </p> <p>Martin Chulov is the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/martin-chulov" class="external" target="_blank">Baghdad correspondent </a>for the Guardian of London.</p> </p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=36192" class="external" target="_blank">Middle East Online</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126061759/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/page/2/">« Previous Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div 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