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for IDPs, returnees">Funding shortfall hits plans for IDPs, returnees</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/brookings-institution/" rel="tag">Brookings Institution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/education/" 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class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 28 February 2011 (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314im_/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://www.iauiraq.org/documents/1308/librar.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">see</a>) </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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-12741"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/15/syrian-archbishop-iraqi-refugees-renewed-our-church/#respond" title="Comment on Syrian Archbishop: Iraqi Refugees Renewed Our Church">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 15th, 2011 by Mohammed Ibn Laith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/03/15/syrian-archbishop-iraqi-refugees-renewed-our-church/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Syrian Archbishop: Iraqi Refugees Renewed Our Church">Syrian Archbishop: Iraqi Refugees Renewed Our Church</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/category/religion/" title="View all posts in Religion" rel="category tag">Religion</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/australia/" rel="tag">Australia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/canada/" rel="tag">Canada</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholic-church/" rel="tag">Catholic Church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/catholics/" rel="tag">Catholics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean/" rel="tag">chaldean</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chaldean-catholic-church/" rel="tag">chaldean catholic church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/christians/" rel="tag">Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ethnic-cleansing-of-christians/" rel="tag">Ethnic cleansing of Christians</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syrian-catholic-church/" rel="tag">syrian catholic church</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/un/" rel="tag">U.N.</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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: 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>Letter of Maronite Archbishop Nassar of Damascus</strong></p> <p>DAMASCUS, Syria, MARCH 14, 2011 (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.zenit.org/" class="external" target="_blank">Zenit.org</a>).- Here is a translation of the letter written by Maronite Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus, titled "Thanks to the Iraqi Refugees." [Translation by ZENIT]</p> </p></div> <p>Syria has facilitated the reception of Iraqi refugees. Thousands of them have come, above all to Damascus, and hundreds of them continue to come to flee from death and the violence they have suffered since 2003. U.N. agencies organize their exodus to other more clement skies. While waiting for their visas, these refugees stay in Damascus, at times for two or three years and sometimes more.</p> <p>These well-formed Christians, fervent and practicing, take refuge in Christian faith and hope. They fill our churches, invigorate our parishes and reinforce the Christian faith in Syria, offering new encouragement to our parishes.</p> <p>Iraqi refugees take part assiduously in daily Mass despite the fact they come from far away, on foot or public transport.</p> <p>On asking for confession before receiving Communion, these refugees have accelerated the return to the confessional which now has waiting queues.</p> <p>Their devotion to the saints and veneration of the Virgin has relaunched the production of candles and the niches of the saints both within and outside the churches are illuminated day and night.</p> <p>Their children are numerous in the catechism and first Communion classes. Young people are involved in the choirs and liturgies of different churches.</p> <p>The war spread information technology rapidly in Iraq. These refugees who have arrived in Damascus are very familiar with the Internet and the Web. They have put their knowledge in a generous way at the service of parishes and communities. In this way, thanks to them, our parishes have been equipped with Web sites, vanguard instrument at the service of evangelization at a universal scale.</p> <p>Moved by profound piety, they come together in dozens, two or three times a week, to do the great cleaning of the cathedral and the Square of the Church until they receive their visas. Before traveling, they ensure the take over in this activity.</p> <p>They take part in prayer vigils, eucharistic adoration, pilgrimages and processions on the streets of Damascus during Holy Week and especially in the month of May. Their spiritual dynamism attracts other communities, one of our priests gives a helping hand in the Chaldean parish.</p> <p>Despite their poverty and precarious condition of life, they are generous and know how to share. Suffice it to see them as they leave Mass giving help with joy, a smile and tears.</p> <p>They live their more intimate moments in silence before the Most Blessed Sacrament, face-to-face with the Lord. For hours, they mourn the death of their loved ones and wonder about the future. And they try to understand the reason why.</p> <p>They arrive in great numbers at the archbishopric every week to say good-bye before traveling to the unknown, and at times separated: parents to Australia, children to Canada. Even in exile they cannot live as a family, an even more painful wrench.</p> <p>These Iraqi refugees passing though Damascus are itinerant missionaries who have left their imprint on the Church in Syria, which sees them pass by and wonders about its own future.</p> <p>The synod of Christians of the East was an opportunity and a hope which, however, has been unable to halt the exodus. These missionary refugees scattered in the four corners of the world are united only by prayer and the Internet, as their roots have been torn and they live the twilight of their Church. Will these Iraqi refugees, with their religious vitality, offer a new encouragement to the Churches of the East that receive them?</p> <p>[Translation by ZENIT]</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.zenit.org/article-32018?l=english" class="external" target="_blank">ZENIT – Syrian Archbishop: Iraqi Refugees Renewed Our Church</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12169"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/#respond" title="Comment on Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 10th, 2011 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-jazeera/" rel="tag">al-Jazeera</a>, <a 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rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/torture/" rel="tag">Torture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment-levels/" rel="tag">unemployment levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unicef/" rel="tag">UNICEF</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-crimes/" rel="tag">War Crimes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wikileaks/" rel="tag">Wikileaks</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens/" rel="tag">women's</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>More than seven years after the US- and UK-led invasion of their country, Iraqis continue to endure an occupation that has systematically violated their rights to life, dignity, self-determination and economic development. The occupation has been and continues to be so destructive and so violent that one in four Iraqis are estimated to be dead or displaced. One in five Iraqis has been made a refugee or an internally displaced person (IDP). </p> <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>Serene Assir, <i>The Electronic Intifada,</i> 10 January 2011 </p> <p><em>Serene Assir is a Lebanese independent writer and journalist based in Spain.</em></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11723.shtml" class="external" target="_blank">ei: Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></p> </p></div> <p>In particular, the role and situation of women and girls has declined precipitously compared to prior to the invasion. From torture to rape to assassination, from forced separation for mixed couples to women and their children enduring the death of their husbands and fathers, from a loss of educational rights to expulsion from the workplace and public life, and from sexual slavery to forced flight or enforced disappearance, for the past seven years Iraqi women and girls have endured the most terrifying of fates. They are living at the mercy of an occupation that both seeks to terrorize them into submission, and to use them as objects for the terrorization of the whole of Iraqi society. </p> <h3>No security </h3> <p>Dr. Souad al-Azzawi, who authored a study on Iraqi women entitled "Deterioration of Iraq women’s rights and living conditions under occupation," published in January 2008, told The Electronic Intifada: "The most significant loss that Iraqi women have suffered is a complete and total loss of security." She explained that the loss of security entails both the loss of physical security and "the economic, social and civil securities Iraqi women were so accustomed to prior to the occupation." </p> <p>In fact, it appears that the loss of physical and other aspects of security have a Catch-22 effect on the lives of women. The lack of legal and institutional support for women by an Iraqi puppet government which is at best ineffective has meant that in the vast majority of cases the criminals, mafias, militias, death squads, US occupation forces and Iraqi police and army forces committing crimes against women are not held accountable for their actions. This has in turn encouraged the development of a situation characterized by lawlessness and criminality, in which women are prime targets. As such, many women have been forced to leave their jobs and quit their education, for fear that they may be the next victim of rape or assassination. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, Iraqi women have had to resort to "the relative security of their homes," often taking their children out of school too if they were the only parent able to accompany them there and back. </p> <p>Echoing al-Azzawi’s words, an Iraqi refugee speaking on condition of anonymity said that she was forced to leave Iraq precisely because of death threats issued against her by militias who had found out she was actively working as a journalist seeking to expose the injustices taking place against women. Had she stayed in Iraq, the threats likely would have been fulfilled. </p> <p>"Not only was I being targeted, but I was also without protection, given that Iraq has no government to speak of," she explained. She added that "I could have been killed at any moment, and no one would have been held accountable for it. It was for one reason alone that I fled: because I had no choice." </p> <h3>Criminal levels of poverty </h3> <p>The figures speak for themselves. According to a dossier on Iraqi women published by the BRussells Tribunal, prior to the invasion 72 percent of working women were government employees. The dismantlement of state institutions immediately after the invasion meant that these women became unemployed. Instability and ineffective institutions in Iraq render it impossible to pinpoint the total rate of unemployment today, but estimates range from 15 percent to 70 percent. The few stable jobs that exist, according to the dossier, are usually given to men, though a growing number of female-headed households means that many women need to take extraordinary risks in order to try and cater for their children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Women.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Women Under Occupation</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>The same economic insecurity affects Iraqi refugee families. Aseer al-Madaien, the Protection Officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Syria, says that out of 139,000 registered Iraqis in Syria, 28 percent are households headed by women. In total, estimates for the total number of displaced Iraqis, including both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), range up to almost five million, according to the international organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, which believes that there are 2.5 million Iraqi IDPs and 2.3 million refugees. </p> <p>IDPs suffer both extreme vulnerability and insecurity, as they seek refuge in the homes of relatives and friends, said Hana Al Bayaty, member of the Executive Committee of the BRussells Tribunal. Many of them are the victims of ethnic cleansing, whereby a country once free of sectarianism is increasingly witnessing the targeting of persons on the basis of their religion or ethnicity. Mixed marriages in these conditions are all too often broken up by force, according to a report published by the UN-affiliated IRIN humanitarian news agency ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=26268" class="external" target="_blank">Mixed Marriages confront Sectarian Violence</a>," 6 April 2006). </p> <p>The majority of Iraqi refugees have headed to neighboring countries Syria and Jordan, where they are not allowed to work, as they are legally considered "guests." In 2007, the UNHCR reported that an estimated 40 percent of Iraq’s middle class had fled the country. Not only have almost half of those with the qualifications and experience to help rebuild Iraq left the country, but they are also suffering from the most extreme form of disempowerment, according to Al Bayaty. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi explained that "For the educated middle class, this situation is shattering as everything we have worked so hard to earn and build up over decades of war and sanctions is being brought down by military force before our very eyes." </p> <p>Unable to work legally, it is often refugee women who take upon themselves the burden and the risk of working as they are less likely to be asked for documentation on the streets of Amman, Damascus and beyond, and they thereby hope to be less likely to be deported. </p> <p>Unemployment levels in Syria and Jordan, however, mean that even illegal work is hard to come by. It is because of this that the phenomenon of forced prostitution is becoming increasingly rife. The growing problem of sex trafficking is partly caused by poverty. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, the lack of work permits, qualifications and opportunities "leads some women to prostitution in order to feed their children and their families." In other cases, the sheer lack of protection faced by some women push them into prostitution. Problems in such cases include threats of kidnapping issued against women should they not accept to prostitute themselves. These threats are issued especially against women whose husbands are dead or missing. "The women of Iraq live in a very fragile situation as a result of the American occupation’s crimes," al-Azzawi said. </p> <h3>Death, torture and enforced disappearance </h3> <p>No statistical reference can adequately convey the sheer suffering experienced by the people of Iraq, as a whole, from the genocidal sanctions period through the invasion and ensuing occupation. Current estimates place the number of dead at anywhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million. </p> <p>According to Iraqi human rights analyst and advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Up to one million Iraqis have been forcibly disappeared." Behind the enforced disappearances are the US army, Iraqi government forces including the army and police, and al-Qaeda and other militias that operate freely across the country, according to a presentation given by Dirk Adriaensens, member of the BRussells Tribunal Executive Committee, at a London conference organized by the International Committee Against Disappearances on 9-12 December 2010. According to calculations by Adriaensens, based on UNHCR statistics, 20 percent of internally displaced Iraqi families have reported cases of missing children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Disappearances_missing_persons_in_Iraq.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Enforced Disappearance. The Missing Persons of Iraq</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>It is also understood that, given that there is a very real and justified fear of retaliation against families who report the disappearances of their loved ones, many others suffer in silence. Thousands of detainees, some of them in secret, illegal prisons, according to al-Azzawi, are women. Estimates published in 2008 by the Iraqi Parliamentary Women’s Committee and the Iraqi Ministry of Women’s Affairs indicate that between one and two million Iraqi women are widows. </p> <p>Inside Iraq’s jails, legal or not, cases of torture and sexual abuse have been widely reported. Revelations by WikiLeaks published on 22 October 2010 were described by Iraqi activists such as Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers’ Union, as just "the tip of the iceberg," as he said on an Al-Jazeera English interview on 24 October. According to al-Azzawi, women are usually jailed on trumped-up charges of terrorism, where there is no proof and while there is no adequate legal system to ensure their right to a fair trial. "Many are awaiting execution," al-Azzawi added. </p> <p>Further, when it is the man who disappears, whether he is dead or missing, women and their families have to fend for themselves in a hellish situation. Out of this horror comes forth one of the more obtuse trends, inexistent in Iraq up until 2003, of families giving their daughters away in early marriage for fear of being unable to adequately support them. </p> <p>One immediate effect of this phenomenon is the fact that girls aged 13, 14 and 15 sold into early marriage lose their right to education. As figures currently stand, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report published on 1 September 2010, for every 100 boys in school, there are only 89 girls ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MCOI-89RD6Y?OpenDocument" class="external" target="_blank">Girls Education in Iraq 2010</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>"Lots of those little girls are very bright and are willing to finish their education if they are allowed to," said al-Azzawi. </p> <p>Worse still is the flourishing of what are known as "pleasure marriages." These are short-term marriages conducted out of court, whereby separation is also very simple. It is a practice that Iraqi women’s rights advocates describe as linked to prostitution, because of the wrongful abuse of the practice by men in power, often blackmailing fathers into giving their daughters away in a "pleasure marriage," and also because once a girl or a woman has married in this way and has received alimony for her short-term commitment, she will find it very difficult to reintegrate back into her family. </p> <p>"Many girls are forced into prostitution and ultimately sex trafficking this way," al-Azzawi added. </p> <h3>Forced Islamization of society </h3> <p>It is deeply telling that Iraqi society is becoming forcibly Islamized by militias tied to the Iraqi puppet government, which is dependent upon the United States for its survival. Meanwhile, Washington claims to be fighting a war on Islamic terrorism. The reality, as is frequently the case, is the precise opposite. Previously a secular state, Iraqi society is becoming forcibly transformed into a theocracy. In such systems, women and girls inevitably lose. </p> <p>The results of the proliferation of fundamentalist militias are varied. While reports of Christian women veiling in order to avoid attacks are troubling in the Iraqi context, what is potentially much worse is that the notion of an Iraqi state for all its citizens is fast disappearing. Not only does this mean that Iraqi girls are no longer safe on the streets; it also means that if the occupation fulfills its goals, Iraqi "career women" may be a thing of the past. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi notes that "Economically the country has lost a huge, skilled working force, which is exactly what the occupation planned to do, and the lives of millions of working women and families were shattered." </p> <p>Considering that there is not a single right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the US occupation has not violated — as the International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq team found when working in 2009 to bring a legal case for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against four US presidents and four UK prime ministers — it is amazing yet encouraging that the US occupation’s goals have failed. </p> <p>Not only is the US administration under President Barack Obama still battling to maintain control over a country whose people resist in the name of their dignity and their love for Iraq, but many of the most outspoken and brilliant advocates for Iraqis’ rights in general are in fact women. </p> <p>"I have much hope for Iraq," said human rights advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Nothing will make me lose hope." </p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12078"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/a-pivotal-year-for-iraqis/#respond" title="Comment on A pivotal year for Iraqis">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 3rd, 2011 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/03/a-pivotal-year-for-iraqis/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to A pivotal year for Iraqis">A pivotal year for Iraqis</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" 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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-problems/" rel="tag">security problems</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/somalia/" rel="tag">Somalia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombings/" rel="tag">suicide bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/transparency-international/" rel="tag">Transparency International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/walls/" rel="tag">walls</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/who/" rel="tag">WHO</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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>Even with a new government finally in place in Iraq, the country is still on the brink of disaster, writes <b><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Salah Hemeid</a></b></p> <p>Ordinary Iraqis expressed their relief last week at the fact that a new government was finally in place after nine months of gridlock, hoping that this will now be a step towards peace and stability in the beleaguered nation.</p> <p>However, while the breakthrough may have ended the governmental impasse, the crisis has only highlighted the fragility of Iraqi state-building more than seven and a half years after the US-led invasion of the country.</p> <p>The year 2010 did not start off well for Iraq as violence persisted and politicians’ bickering raised concerns about the country’s ability to get back onto its feet after the US withdrawal next year. </p> <p>Thousands were killed, including civilian bystanders, army and security officers and government officials, and thousands others wounded in a string of suicide bombings and attacks in Iraq throughout the year.</p> <p>The violence proved that the Iraqi security forces are not yet able to protect civilians in terms of numbers, equipment and training, while insurgents tied to Al-Qaeda continue to launch attacks, spreading an air of danger in many Iraqi cities.</p> <p>Critics maintain that the newly trained Iraqi armed forces are incompetent and sharply divided along ethnic and sectarian lines and that they cannot be expected to succeed in ending the violence, raising questions about whether the remaining US troops in Iraq will be able to exit the country as many Iraqis desire. </p> <p>The United States has reiterated that it will stick to plans to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by December next year, but Washington might have second thoughts if the new government fails to restore stability and insurgents continue their campaign to bring it down. </p> <p>In addition to the security problems, the newly formed government has to end the chaos in Iraq and deal with multiple political, social and economic setbacks.</p> <p>One of the biggest problems is the deep schism facing the country, which needs to be bridged by national reconciliation. Reconciliation of Iraq’s ethno-religious communities is seen as a necessary precursor to stemming the country’s sectarian violence.</p> <p>There are dangers that the country is descending into a situation in which it is becoming less tolerant in terms of religious freedoms and human rights, as the government fails to deal with increasing fundamentalism.</p> <p>An intensifying campaign is putting more pressure on the government to go after religious fundamentalists, operating in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities, who seek to impose their strict interpretation of Islam.</p> <p>There have been widespread reports that these groups have ordered social clubs, bars and alcohol shops to close down and that they are intimidating people who do not follow their version of Islamic values. </p> <p>The crackdown has included shutting music and drama departments in arts institutes, banning arts festivals and circuses, and imposing strict codes of behaviour.</p> <p>The moves have heightened concerns among academics and intellectuals that Iraq, now emerging from foreign occupation and war, is displaying all the tendencies of a Taliban-like Islamic state.</p> <p>The year 2010 was also among the worst for the country’s Christians, with thousands fleeing their homes and more leaving the country during 2010 than at any time since the US-led invasion. </p> <p>The latest exodus follows a massacre led by Al-Qaeda at a Christian Catholic Church in central Baghdad on 31 October, which left some 60 people dead, almost 100 maimed and an already apprehensive community terrified.</p> <p>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 in the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, Christmas services have been cancelled for fear of further violence. </p> <p>After more than seven years of war, the Iraqi economy is in tatters, with the country depending largely on imports for nearly everything from cars to tomatoes. Unemployment is among the highest in any country worldwide.</p> <p>The country also still lacks basic services. Electricity is in short supply, medicines are available mainly through the black market, and there are long lines for fuel in a country that has the third largest oil reserves in the world.</p> <p>Another serious problem is corruption, which is spectacular even by world standards. Iraq is ranked fifth from the bottom of the pressure group Transparency International’s list of 180 nations.</p> <p>Bribery and outright theft surround virtually every Iraqi government department, with some of the kickbacks being used by rival politicians to cement their power bases in order to perpetuate their hegemony in the country.</p> <p>Some two million Iraqi refugees are either abroad or displaced inside Iraq after being forced to flee their homes to safe havens because of violence and sectarian threats.</p> <p>Today, most of Baghdad’s neighbourhoods are shielded by high concrete walls from the rubble-strewn streets and are cordoned off by the security forces as residents are trapped in fear of a renewal of sectarian conflict. </p> <p>However, the good news in 2010 was that Iraq increased its oil exports. New Petroleum Minister Abdel-Karim Luaibi said on Wednesday that Iraq’s crude oil production had increased by 100,000 barrels a day to 2.5 million barrels. </p> <p>The ministry had announced earlier that sales from Iraqi crude oil exports during the first 11 months of 2010 had reached $46.9 billion. Last year, Iraq’s oil revenues reached $41.3 billion, compared with $60 billion in 2008.</p> <p>Iraq might have made other small advances in 2010, especially in avoiding civil war, but the country still has a long way to go. At the end of a long and exhausting year, it is hard to see a clear end in sight.</p> <p>Strengthening the Iraqi state will be hard, especially after the March elections that produced a government many Iraqis consider to be weak, fragmented and incompetent.</p> <p>According to some scenarios for post-2010 Iraq, next year will be crucial as it will see the withdrawal of the remaining US troops. The pullout will mean that the US will no longer have a large foothold in Iraq, leaving the country to local forces and interests as it absorbs the after- effects of the American-led invasion.</p> <p>One scenario is that the national partnership government will succeed in holding the country together and that a strong central government will emerge. This will be able to prevent violence escalating and erupting into all-out civil war.</p> <p>A second scenario would be that the instability in Iraq continues, with the growing confrontation between the country’s Sunnis and Shias over power and resources leading the country into chaos.</p> <p>Neighbouring countries will be fearful of the risk of contagion and will try to keep the chaos contained within Iraq’s borders. A proxy war could be the result, along the lines of what is happening in Somalia.</p> <p>Another scenario would be the collapse of the government because of sectarian fighting and the country descending into outright civil war. This would most likely lead to Iraq’s disintegration with instability spreading to the entire region.</p> <p>The year 2011 will be pivotal for Iraq’s future, and that future will be more than anything else determined by the fortunes of the new government. </p> <p>It is to be hoped that Iraq’s politicians will not repeat their previous mistakes and that they will stand together to end the people’s misery and start rebuilding the devastated country.</p> <p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1029/re6.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | A pivotal year for Iraqis</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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/brookings-institution/" rel="tag">Brookings Institution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food/" rel="tag">food</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/host-governments/" rel="tag">host governments</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-organization-for-migration/" rel="tag">international organization for migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugee/" rel="tag">iraqi refugee</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migrants/" rel="tag">migrants</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/migration/" rel="tag">migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/population-mobility/" rel="tag">population mobility</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-population/" rel="tag">refugee population</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/repatriation/" rel="tag">repatriation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returned-refugees/" rel="tag">Returned Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-situation/" rel="tag">security situation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/situation-in-iraq/" rel="tag">situation in iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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-11719"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/27/no-work-forces-refugees-into-risky-return/#respond" title="Comment on No work forces refugees into risky return">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 27th, 2010 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/27/no-work-forces-refugees-into-risky-return/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to No work forces refugees into risky return">No work forces refugees into risky return</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asylum-seekers/" rel="tag">Asylum seekers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/convention-relating-to-the-status-of-refugees/" rel="tag">convention relating to the status of refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/host-countries/" rel="tag">host countries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/idps-internal-refugees-need-for-protection/" rel="tag">IDPs (Internal Refugees) - need for protection</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/informal-economy/" rel="tag">informal economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-international-initiative-on-refugees/" rel="tag">Iraqi International Initiative on Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/living-below-the-poverty-line/" rel="tag">living below the poverty line</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returns-of-refugeesidps/" rel="tag">returns of refugees/IDPs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>It takes courage – or desperation – for an Iraqi refugee to return home, given the levels of violence in the country. But unable to support their families abroad, some are taking that decision. </p> <p>The risks are substantial: According to a survey by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 61 percent of Iraqi asylum-seekers who have returned home have regretted it, citing the astonishing levels of insecurity. </p> <p>Umm Hassan (not her real name) fled to Amman, Jordan with her children to escape the war, but unable to support her family, returned home last year. She was back in Amman nine months later . “The situation was unbearable in Baghdad. It was so dangerous, there were explosions, and we had no source of income there either. We stayed at various relatives’ houses while I had no way to provide for my children. In the end we decided to come back to Jordan again, though we knew things would be hard,” she told IRIN in a telephone interview. </p> <p>UNHCR estimates there are 1.78 million Iraqi refugees – the second-largest refugee group in the world – and has registered 207,639. The overwhelming majority have sought refuge in neighbouring Syria and Jordan, with a significant proportion in Lebanon and Egypt. </p> <p>The problem is “Iraqis do not have the right to work in host countries, and those who do are immersed in the informal economy,” said Asma Al-Haidari, a Jordan-based human rights activist. Of the four main countries of asylum, only Egypt has signed the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which guarantees the right to work for legally recognized refugees. In Syria and Jordan, Iraqis are considered “guests”. </p> <p>Only documented refugees are entitled to a small financial package from UNHCR – most are not registered. With restrictions on the right to work and savings exhausted, Iraqis are pushed into poverty and trying to make ends meet in the informal economy. “It is purely as a result of their desperation that some Iraqis are voluntarily returning to Iraq,” said Al-Haidari. </p> <p>“Some progress has been made with guaranteeing Iraqi refugees basic services such as access to primary education and health care in Syria and Jordan,” said Hana Al-Bayaty, coordinator of the Cairo-based Iraqi International Initiative on Refugees. </p> <h3>Education </h3> <p>But there are no guarantees on access to free secondary and higher education in host countries, whose educational systems are already under strain. That can act as a further inducement for people to choose to return, particularly for middle class families that have traditionally valued education. </p> <p>“My elder daughter is a lawyer, and my son has just graduated from a professional academy whose fees have put us all in debt. Neither of them can work, and I cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Umm Hassan, a widow. “We have difficulties meeting our most basic needs. But we have nowhere to go.” </p> <p>UNHCR has counted 19,530 individuals and 4,200 families who have chosen to return to Iraq between January and September this year. The Refugee Agency currently discourages returnees to Iraq, and in particular Baghdad, due to the insecurity, but the majority are heading to the city. </p> <p>Economic opportunities for returnees are also limited. In the UNHCR survey, 87 percent said they were currently unable to cover their families’ needs, while 11 percent cited poor economic conditions and unemployment as reasons for not returning to their former homes and neighbourhoods. </p> <p>Most returnees to the Baghdad districts of Karkh and Resafa have not gone back to their original homes, but rather are staying with relatives, friends or in rented accommodation, mainly as a result of ongoing fears of persecution. </p> <p>According to Al-Bayaty, a sizeable number of returnees are living in squats in old public buildings. “Many refugees’ homes are occupied, either by organized militias or individual families. Returning refugees therefore generally become internally displaced persons.” </p> <p>Iraq already has 1.5 million displaced persons, including 500,000 in settlements or camp-like conditions. </p> <blockquote> </blockquote> <p><strong>Source: </strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90894" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: No work forces refugees into risky return | Iraq | Economy | Conflict | Refugees/IDPs</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11636"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/19/voting-with-their-feet/#respond" title="Comment on Voting With Their Feet">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 19th, 2010 by Um Thalit</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/19/voting-with-their-feet/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Voting With Their Feet">Voting With Their Feet</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asylum/" rel="tag">asylum</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asylum-seekers/" rel="tag">Asylum seekers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/babylon/" rel="tag">Babylon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basrah/" rel="tag">Basrah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/britain/" rel="tag">Britain</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/central-provinces/" rel="tag">central provinces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/chronic-unemployment/" rel="tag">chronic unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/denmark/" rel="tag">Denmark</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/deportations/" rel="tag">deportations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/education/" rel="tag">Education</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/eu/" rel="tag">EU</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/europe/" rel="tag">Europe</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/european-union/" rel="tag">european union</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fao/" rel="tag">Fao</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-deprivation/" rel="tag">food deprivation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-insecurity/" rel="tag">Food insecurity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-ration/" rel="tag">food ration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/host-countries/" rel="tag">host countries</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/housing-shortage/" rel="tag">housing shortage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/housing-shortages/" rel="tag">housing shortages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/inadequate-health-care/" rel="tag">inadequate health care</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kidnapping/" rel="tag">kidnapping</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/markets/" rel="tag">markets</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/melissa-fleming/" rel="tag">melissa fleming</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/muthanna/" rel="tag">Muthanna</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/netherlands/" rel="tag">Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/norway/" rel="tag">Norway</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/pds/" rel="tag">PDS</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/public-distribution-system/" rel="tag">Public Distribution System</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sweden/" rel="tag">Sweden</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tikrit/" rel="tag">Tikrit</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/un/" rel="tag">U.N.</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence/" rel="tag">violence</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div style="padding-right: 5px; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; width: 300px; padding-top: 0px"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <p><strong>Food deprivation in Iraq</strong></p> <p>I recently learnt that there’s a famous saying attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte that armies travel on their stomachs. It should not be surprising that the other type of armies associated with warfare the armies of refugees refuse to travel to back to a place where there is no chronic food insecurity, chronic unemployment, housing shortages, and very shaky security.  </p> <p>A large part of the reason for this marked reluctance to return by refugees is highlighted in the report <strong>"Food deprivation in Iraq" </strong>published yesterday by the government as a condition for getting aid from the UN. Even the executive summary I have posted here paints a picture of a country a significant portion of whose population do not have a reliable source of food. If you take trouble to read the full government report <strong>"</strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&shortid=SNAA-8AC8E9&file=Full_Report.pdf" target="_blank" class="external"><strong>Food deprivation in Iraq" [PDF]</strong></a> the picture becomes even clearer.</p> <p>Today <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reuters.com/" class="external" target="_blank">Reuters</a> published a report "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69I2GU20101019" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi refugees regret going home, UNHCR survey finds</a>" I’ve posted it underneath the food deprivation report. The first three paragraphs are grim but unsurprising reading:</p> <blockquote><p>A majority of Iraqi refugees who have returned from exile to Baghdad regret their decision, saying they face insecurity, a lack of jobs and inadequate health care, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday. </p> <p>Some 61 percent of those interviewed were sorry they had left Syria and Jordan, while one in three was unsure of staying in Iraq, according to its recently-completed survey of 2,353 Iraqis who returned to the capital between 2007 and 2008. </p> <p>"UNHCR staff were informed by returnees of numerous instances of explosions, harassment, military operations and kidnapping occurring in their areas of return," Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing. </p> </blockquote> <p>No jobs, no food, and no safety. No wonder they stay away or regret coming back bad as the situation is for refugees the situation here is worse.</p> <p>Um Thalit</p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <blockquote><h3>Food deprivation in Iraq EXECUTIVE SUMMARY </h3> <p>Seven out of every 100 Iraqi individuals are undernourished. This is equivalent to an estimated 2.1 million Iraqis. In light of the history of conflict in Iraq and the current state of instability, this prevalence is rather low especially when compared to the overall prevalence of food deprivation within the Near East and North Africa region (7 percent in Iraq compared to 8 percent in the region). </p> <p>The national prevalence, however, is not equally distributed at the sub national level as disparities exist between the Iraqi governorates. Although food insecure households exist in nearly all governorates of Iraq, they are found to be concentrated in Diyala, Babylon Basrah, Salah al Deen, Kerbala and Muthanna governorates where the prevalence of food deprivation ranges from 51 to 17 percent. The highest level of food deprivation is observed in Diyala governorate, where around one half of people were food deprived. The high prevalence of food deprivation in Diyala is attributed to disruptions in food distributions through the Public Distribution System caused by the incidence of violence and military campaigns during the data collection period. </p> <p>The Public Distribution System (PDS) was established in 1991 to guarantee a provision of a minimum consumption needs to the Iraqi population through distribution of rations comprising of wheat flour, rice, sugar, vegetable oil, pulses, adult milk, infant formula and tea as well as other non food items at a highly subsidized price. The average daily dietary energy consumption in Iraq is 2580 kilocalorie per person, over half of which is acquired through the PDS. </p> <p>At the level of household characteristics, food deprivation is concentrated within population groups characterized by low income, large households, whose head is over 50 years of age and is illiterate, involved in agricultural activities or unemployed. </p> <p>Expenditures on food represents slightly more than one third (35 percent) of total household expenditures, of which, 80 percent is dedicated to commercial food purchases and the remaining twenty percent represents the value of the nominal payment required to receive the PDS food rations, the value of food produced and consumed by households and food purchased and consumed away from the home. </p> <p>Despite having a share of 80 percent of all food expenditures, food purchased from the commercial markets provides only 44 percent of the kilocalorie consumption at the national level. Accordingly, the contribution of dietary energy from the PDS plays a critical role from the food security perspective while the contribution of purchased food plays an important role from the expenditure structure perspective and dietary energy acquired from food from own production is negligible. The high reliance of Iraqis within the lower income strata on food rations renders them vulnerable to any irregularities in the distribution system and market fluctuations. </p> <p>The market price of 1000 kilocalories in Iraq is valued at 610 Iraqi Dinars on average. Accordingly, daily per capita expenditure on food is valued at 1590 Iraqi Dinars. When accounting for actual expenditures, subsidized prices of food provided through the PDS renders the cost of 1000 kilocalories to be 520 Iraqi Dinars on average, bringing daily per capita out of pocket expenditure on food down to 1360 Iraqi Dinars. </p> <p>In general, the Iraqi diet is balanced from the perspective of macro nutrient consumption as the distribution of energy acquired from fat, carbohydrates and proteins is 26, 62 and 12 percent respectively. However, consumption of fat is nearer to the higher bounds and protein nearer the lower bounds of the FAO/WHO/UNU recommendations. Average daily cereal consumption of around 400 grams per person provides 53 percent of total dietary energy consumed, followed by oils and fats (12 percent) and sugar (11 percent). </p> <p>Animal protein (meat, dairy products, eggs and fish) contributes 10 percent to the total dietary energy consumption. Food consumption is not equally distributed amongst all Iraqi households, as households of higher income group consume on average twice the quantity of dietary energy than that consumed by households in the lowest income group. Inequality in total expenditures is higher than food consumption inequality as total expenditures in the lowest income group is seven times less than that of the highest income group. </p> </blockquote> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SNAA-8AC8E9?OpenDocument" class="external" target="_blank">ReliefWeb » Document » Food deprivation in Iraq</a></p> <p>Download  <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&shortid=SNAA-8AC8E9&file=Full_Report.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Full_Report</a> (pdf* format – 1.5 Mbytes)</p> <p> </p> <p>Iraqi refugees regret going home, UNHCR survey finds | Reuters</p> <blockquote><p>GENEVA (Reuters) – A majority of Iraqi refugees who have returned from exile to Baghdad regret their decision, saying they face insecurity, a lack of jobs and inadequate health care, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday. </p> <p>Some 61 percent of those interviewed were sorry they had left Syria and Jordan, while one in three was unsure of staying in Iraq, according to its recently-completed survey of 2,353 Iraqis who returned to the capital between 2007 and 2008. </p> <p>"UNHCR staff were informed by returnees of numerous instances of explosions, harassment, military operations and kidnapping occurring in their areas of return," Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing. </p> <p>Although many returnees said they had left their host countries because they could no longer afford the cost of living there, some 87 percent said their income in Iraq was insufficient to cover their families’ needs. </p> <p>"One of the principal challenges we found for Iraqi returnees is finding regular employment, making them reliant on irregular jobs, which are often not available," Fleming said. </p> <p>Separate polls of a total of 3,500 Iraqi refugees living in Syria and Jordan, released on October 8, found most still reluctant to return home on a permanent basis, according to the UNHCR. </p> <p>Refugees cited political uncertainty and insecurity in Iraq, as well as poor educational opportunities and housing shortages. Syria and Jordan host some 180,000 registered Iraqi refugees. </p> <h3>FORCED DEPORTATIONS </h3> <p>While violence has plunged from the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-2007, explosions and attacks happen daily. Bombs destroyed the home of a senior Iraqi police commander on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people in the northern city of Tikrit, hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein, police said. </p> <p>The UNHCR does not promote returns to Iraq, due to insecurity, and its guidelines to all governments strongly recommend that Iraqis should not be sent home to five central provinces, including Baghdad, seen as too dangerous. </p> <p>However, it helps refugees who voluntarily want to go home, providing them with transport costs and a small cash grant. </p> <p>Fewer than 3,000 have taken up the offer since 2007, though many have returned without its support, according to the agency. </p> <p>"Iraqi refugees are the best judges of when to go back. Basically they are voting with their feet," said UNHCR spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes. </p> <p>The UNHCR also said that it remained concerned by forced deportations of failed Iraqi asylum seekers from five countries in Europe (Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden). </p> <p>It knew of seven chartered flights, coordinated by the European Union border agency FRONTEX, believed to have flown several hundred Iraqis back to their homeland since June. </p> <p>"We would very much like to have a fuller picture of who is being returned and where," Wilkes said. "We hear from various countries that they plan to continue returns but we don’t know when."</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69I2GU20101019" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi refugees regret going home, UNHCR survey finds</a> | By Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11525"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/09/30/irin-global-refugees-unhcr-concerned-over-iraqi-deportations-global-iraq-refugeesidps/#respond" title="Comment on UNHCR concerned over Iraqi deportations">No Comments</a></span> Posted on September 30th, 2010 by Suheila Jamil</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/09/30/irin-global-refugees-unhcr-concerned-over-iraqi-deportations-global-iraq-refugeesidps/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to UNHCR concerned over Iraqi deportations">UNHCR concerned over Iraqi deportations</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/anbar/" rel="tag">Anbar</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asylum/" rel="tag">asylum</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/asylum-applicants/" rel="tag">asylum applicants</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/erbil/" rel="tag">Erbil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/europe/" rel="tag">Europe</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/european-union/" rel="tag">european union</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/forced-returns-of-refugees/" rel="tag">Forced returns of refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/forced-returns-of-refugeesidps/" rel="tag">Forced returns of refugees/IDPs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-violations/" rel="tag">human rights violations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-refugees/" rel="tag">iraqi refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/irin/" rel="tag">IRIN</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/jordan/" rel="tag">Jordan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdistan/" rel="tag">Kurdistan</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/muthanna/" rel="tag">Muthanna</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/najaf/" rel="tag">Najaf</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/netherlands/" rel="tag">Netherlands</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninawa/" rel="tag">Ninawa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ninewa/" rel="tag">Ninewa</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/norway/" rel="tag">Norway</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugee-agency/" rel="tag">refugee agency</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/returnees/" rel="tag">returnees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-al-din/" rel="tag">Salah al-Din</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaymaniyah/" rel="tag">Sulaymaniyah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sweden/" rel="tag">Sweden</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/switzerland/" rel="tag">Switzerland</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>LONDON, 29 September 2010 (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90616" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern about the growing number of deportations of Iraqi asylum-seekers from Western Europe in the last two months. <p>Special charter flights to take failed asylum-seekers home have increased in frequency, and Iraqis are being returned to parts of the country which are still unsafe, in contravention of UNHCR guidelines for the handling of Iraqi asylum applications, it says. </p> <p>The deportations are handled by Frontex, a Warsaw-based agency set up to coordinate operations between European Union (EU) member states in the field of border security, and their planes can carry returnees from several different countries. The most recent (on 22 September) had failed asylum applicants from Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and the UK. </p> <p>One of the UNHCR’s complaints is that the information provided by those countries is usually sketchy, varies from country to country and is given only very late in the process. In the case of last week’s flight, Sweden told the UNHCR the names and dates of birth of those being sent home, but not their destinations. The UK provided details of where its rejected claimants were going but not their identities. </p> <p>No country told the UNHCR how many of the passengers being put on board the plane were going home voluntarily, and how many were being deported against their will, but reports from Baghdad say police had to be called to escort some of them off the plane. </p> <p>A spokesperson for the UNHCR, Sybella Wilkes, called for states sending home asylum-seekers to be more transparent. “We are aware when a flight is leaving,” she told IRIN, “but we don’t know until the last minute who is on board or which countries they are coming from.” </p> <p>The organization does not oppose people being sent back to Iraq in every case. “It’s possible that some people on the plane were going back voluntarily,” Wilkes said. “It’s possible that some were going to areas where we don’t have issues about security. But we don’t know. Having full information would be in everybody’s best interests.” </p> <p>What they do know is that among the passengers leaving Sweden were two women and four children. The British government said all those it was sending last week were single adult males, but their destinations included Baghdad, Ninawa, Kirkuk and Salah ad-Din – all areas the UNHCR considers unsafe. </p> <p><strong>Five governorates unsafe</strong> </p> <p>“We are very clear in our guidelines,” said Sybella Wilkes. “Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninawa and Salah ad-Din are still not safe, in view of serious human rights violations and continuing security incidents in those areas. We specifically ask governments not to return people to those five governorates, and we are disappointed they are ignoring our guidelines.” </p> <p>The general secretary of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, Dashty Jamal, blamed the rise in forced removals on the electoral success of right wing parties in a number of European countries. He told IRIN: “Most of the EU countries’ right-wing parties have united together to change their immigration policy, and deport back all Iraqis who apply for asylum in their country.” </p> <p>He said that as well as the charter flights run by Frontex, individual refugees are being sent back almost every night on scheduled flights to Jordan. “I believe that no part of Iraq is safe, even Kurdistan. It is like the UN saying that Berne in Switzerland is safe but Zurich is not safe. This is not the time to send people back. They are playing with the lives of innocent people.” </p> <p>Contacted by IRIN, the UK’s border agency denied there had been any overall policy recently to deport more Iraqi asylum-seekers. Detailed figures of deportations over the past two months are not yet available, but a spokesperson insisted that every case is looked at individually and considered on its merits. “We only ever return those whom the Border Agency and the courts are satisfied are not in need of our protection, and who have failed to comply with a request to leave.” </p> <p>Are the Agency and the courts ignoring the UNHCR guidelines on safe and unsafe areas? “A whole range of factors are taken into account,” the spokesperson told IRIN. “And from the UK’s point of view we have to be satisfied that they don’t need our protection.” </p> <p>The UNHCR has been lobbying since June against the forced removals to Iraq, but says so far they have not seen any shift in position by Western European governments. Sybella Wilkes says she is disappointed. “I would like them to consider that they have a minority of Iraqi asylum-seekers in their countries. And this is not a very positive example when Iraq’s neighbours have much greater numbers, and have been much more generous and welcoming.” </p> <p>Dashty Jamal told IRIN on 28 September that a number of Iraqis in the UK had received tickets for a flight back to Iraq on 6 October, and that a demonstration was being planned that day outside the Iraqi embassy in London to protest at the way returnees are treated when they get to Baghdad.<br/> <table style="margin: 5px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid" bordercolor="#cccccc" height="410" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" width="693" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="font-weight: bold; background-color: silver; text-align: center" colspan="15"><font face="Arial">Refugee Returns September 2009 – August 2010 (Individuals)</font></td> </tr> <tr style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center"> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Governorate <p>of Return</p> <p> </font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Sep-09</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Oct-09</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Nov-09</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Dec-09</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Jan-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Feb-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Mar-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Apr-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">May-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Jun-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Jul-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom"><font face="Arial">Aug-10</font></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom" colspan="2"><font face="Arial">Total September <p>2009 – August 2010</p> <p> </font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td><font face="Arial"><strong>Anbar</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Babylon</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">90</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">110</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">730</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">3%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Baghdad</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">830</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,700</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,080</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">860</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">780</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">720</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">780</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">780</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">870</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">570</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">890</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10,990</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Basrah</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">230</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">640</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Dahuk</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">90</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Qadissyah</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">70</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">440</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">410</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">480</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">440</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">510</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">330</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">270</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">3,190</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">12%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Diyala</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">230</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">220</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">170</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">120</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">70</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">70</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,510</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">6%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Erbil</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">90</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">300</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">320</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">110</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,080</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">4%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Kerbala</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">150</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">120</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">170</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">120</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,540</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">6%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Kirkuk</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">520</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Missan</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">110</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">530</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">430</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">140</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,380</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">5%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Muthanna</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">140</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">710</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">3%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Najaf</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">70</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">210</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">190</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">240</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">120</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">70</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,460</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">5%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Ninewa</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Salah al-Din</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">110</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">60</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">530</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Sulaymaniyah</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">110</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">0%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: gainsboro; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Thi-Qar</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">90</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">90</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">170</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">200</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">260</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">240</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">260</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">230</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">210</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">240</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">200</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">80</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,270</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">8%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial"><strong>Wassit</strong></font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">50</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">90</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">10</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">30</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">20</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">40</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">70</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">460</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2%</font></td> </tr> <tr style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right"> <td style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial">TOTAL</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,650</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">3,000</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,300</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,240</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,820</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,160</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,450</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,130</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,610</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">2,480</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,740</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">1,850</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">27,430</font></td> <td><font face="Arial">100%</font></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 9px" colspan="15"><font face="Arial"><em>Data source: MoDM, DDM, City Councils Baghdad, Diyala. All data has been collected inside Iraq. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10</em>.</font></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90616" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Global | REFUGEES: UNHCR concerned over Iraqi deportations | Global | Iraq | Refugees/IDPs</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11425"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/09/07/syria-iraqi-refugee-children-dropping-out-of-school/#respond" title="Comment on SYRIA: Iraqi refugee children dropping out of school">No Comments</a></span> Posted on September 7th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/09/07/syria-iraqi-refugee-children-dropping-out-of-school/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to SYRIA: Iraqi refugee children dropping out of school">SYRIA: Iraqi refugee children dropping out of school</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/category/children/" title="View all posts in Children" rel="category tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/child-poverty/" rel="tag">Child Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/damascus/" rel="tag">Damascus</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dropping-out-of-school/" rel="tag">dropping out of school</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/economy/" rel="tag">Economy</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/elizabeth-campbell/" rel="tag">elizabeth campbell</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/english-language-articles/" rel="tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/financial-stress/" rel="tag">financial stress</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-children/" rel="tag">iraqi children</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees-international/" rel="tag">Refugees International</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/remittances/" rel="tag">remittances</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resettlement/" rel="tag">resettlement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-violence/" rel="tag">sectarian violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unicef/" rel="tag">UNICEF</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>DAMASCUS, 7 September 2010 (<a title="IRIN" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90412" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – Iraqi refugee children in Syria are struggling to keep up at school, or are dropping out to seek paid work, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). <br/>“Education is absolutely central to the future of all children. Having a generation not equipped to participate in the economy of their country serves no one,” said Sherazade Boualia, UNICEF head in Syria. </p> <p>Syria, which took in up to 1.2 million of the two million refugees who fled sectarian violence in the wake of the 2003 war in Iraq, opened its public education system to the refugees, but many are unable to benefit. </p> <p>Children often <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87418" class="external" target="_blank">work</a> to bring in extra income for their families. Iraqis are not legally allowed to work in Syria and black market jobs often pay just 100 SYP (US$2) per day, according to the refugees. </p> <p>Hussein Ali, 16, said he had to drop out of school to earn money cleaning in a hotel. “We are very grateful for the cash assistance from the UNHCR [UN Refugee Agency],” said Mr Ali, his father, who has a disability which prevents him from working. “But it is not enough.” </p> <p>Others have to travel too far to get to a school with available places, or cannot afford the nominal fees. “Most of the Iraqi refugee population is concentrated in and around Damascus where schools’ capacity is already stretched,” said Boualia. </p> <p>The refugees’ plight is getting worse as remittances are drying up and savings running out, said US NGO Refugees International. </p> <p>Over the last three years the number of Iraqi refugee children dropping out of school has risen steadily, according to UNICEF. </p> <p>Government figures indicate that 49,132 Iraqi refugees were enrolled in the 2007-2008 school year, but this dropped to 32,425 in 2008-2009. Refugees International said the number had dropped further this year, with 30 percent fewer children enrolled. </p> <p>"The decline is linked to families experiencing more financial stress as well as resettlement to third countries and returns to Iraq," said Boualia. </p> <p>Anecdotal evidence suggests most of those dropping out are male, with families keeping girls in school. </p> <p>Teachers say Iraqi children are falling behind at school due to emotional problems, gaps in their education, or difficulties adjusting to their new situation in Syria. </p> <h3>Action </h3> </p> <p>In coordination with the Syrian government, UNICEF is attempting to tackle the problem with a US$6 million project, which includes improving facilities at schools with a high proportion of refugees, remedial classes for children who have fallen behind, and vocational evening classes for those working. </p> <p>UNICEF is also training teachers in the psycho-social needs of Iraqis which may be preventing them from concentrating. “The majority of Iraqis have at least one family member that suffers from extreme depression," said Elizabeth Campbell, senior official at Refugees International. Many of those are children. UNHCR says 150 Iraqis are referred for counselling every month. </p> <p>Refugee registration data shows most Iraqi refugee adults living in Syria are educated and value education for their children. But experts say solutions must be found or children will continue to drop out of school. </p> <p>“The needs of the whole family must be met to ensure children attend school,” said Campbell. </p> <p>Experts say providing families with financial assistance contingent upon their children enrolling in school, or providing hot meals at schools, might be one way forward.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=90412" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | SYRIA: Iraqi refugee children dropping out of school | Middle East | Syria | Children Education Refugees/IDPs | Feature</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11015"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/11/turkey-muddies-the-water/#respond" title="Comment on Turkey muddies the water">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 11th, 2010 by Nur Hussein Ghazali</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/11/turkey-muddies-the-water/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Turkey muddies the water">Turkey muddies the water</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/category/analysis-briefings-commentary/" title="View all posts in Analysis Briefings Commentary" rel="category tag">Analysis Briefings Commentary</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/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/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-ahram/" rel="tag">Al-Ahram</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/arab-economic-development/" rel="tag">arab economic development</a>, <a 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dams</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/neighbouring-states/" rel="tag">neighbouring states</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/northeastern-syria/" rel="tag">northeastern syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rate-of-flow/" rel="tag">rate of flow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources-ministry/" rel="tag">resources ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/river-water/" rel="tag">river water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris/" rel="tag">Tigris</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-and-euphrates-rivers/" rel="tag">tigris and euphrates rivers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/turkey/" rel="tag">Turkey</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-crisis-iraq/" rel="tag">Water Crisis (Iraq)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-flow/" rel="tag">water flow</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-issue/" rel="tag">water issue</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-resources/" rel="tag">water resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treaty/" rel="tag">Water Treaty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treaty-negotiations/" rel="tag">Water Treaty negotiations</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p> </p> <blockquote><p>Syria’s plan to divert the waters of the Tigris portends a long and bitter quarrel with Iraq, reports <b>Bassel Oudat</b> from Damascus </p> <hr noshade="noshade"/> <p>Last year’s severe drought in northeastern Syria dried up the Khabur River which is the lifeline in that region, causing some 500,000 Syrians to migrate to other areas inside Syria. In response, the government signed a deal with the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development to begin a project on the Tigris close to the Syrian-Turkish-Iraqi border, diverting enough water to fertilise 200,000 hectares.</p> <p>Baghdad was infuriated by the project and called Damascus to an "emergency meeting" to clarify the details of the "surprise plan" which would divert river water over long distances inside Syrian territories. Iraq’s Water Resources Ministry stated that any diverted water will affect Iraq’s already meagre water quota, which would negatively influence local agriculture and the economy. Iraqi officials also predicted that the plan will jeopardise already worsening relations between the two neighbouring states.</p> <p>Syria has not responded to Iraq’s invitation. Informed Syrian sources asserted that the project was conceived decades ago, and not a new concept at all, as the Iraqis are claiming. In fact, it is an indicator of warming relations between Syria and Turkey, because Ankara gave Damascus the green light to go ahead and begin the project.</p> <p>The plan is indeed old, but was delayed because previous governments in Turkey refused to sign any agreement to share water with Syria and Iraq. With encouragement from abroad, Ankara was fooled into believing that it would be stronger and have more leverage by controlling the water flow.</p> <p>Syria and Iraq have fought over water resources in the past. In the 1980s, it threatened to ignite a war. Eventually the quarrel came to include Turkey, especially after Ankara began building large dams on the Euphrates and Tigris. So far, no three-way agreement has been reached because Turkey refuses to share the water with Syria and Iraq.</p> <p>The heart of the problem lies in differences of interpretation of Syria and Iraq on the one hand, and Turkey on the other. Turkey believes the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which originate in the Taurus Mountains in Turkey and pass through Syria and Iraq, to be "marginally cross-border rivers" because they barely pass inside the borders of Syria and Iraq. But Syria and Iraq consider them major international water bodies which should be evenly divided among everyone.</p> <p>When the regimes in Damascus and Baghdad fell out in the 1970-80s, this negatively affected their rights to the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris and a number of smaller rivers, because they refused to sit together or with the Turkish side. Ankara used Syrian- Iraqi tensions to exercise control over the waters of the rivers and keep a much larger share than stipulated in international water agreements for itself. It constructed massive dams on the rivers, using their waters in agricultural and industrial projects along their banks. It cut down the amount of water going to each country, and refused to recognise that the two rivers were international waterways but rather local Turkish rivers which happen to pass through Syria and Iraq on their way to the Arab shore, south of Basra in Iraq.</p> <p>In 1974, Turkey began the Southeastern Anatolian (GAP) project which consists of 21 dams, 17 of which on the Euphrates including Ataturk Dam and four others on the River Tigris. It also included 19 power stations and 47 water reservoirs, and a variety of other projects in the fields of agriculture, industry, transportation, irrigation and communication. Ankara earmarked $32 billion for the project and received a large part of the budget from international funding in the form of loans and grants, especially from the US, Canada, Israel and France.</p> <p>In 1987, Syria and Iraq tried to gain some recognition over the waters of the two rivers, but it was too late. Turkey refused to negotiate with them as one party and dealt with each side separately, taking a disproportionate amount for itself. Damascus and Baghdad could do nothing, especially in light of the fact that Ankara continued its plans to construct dams and was able to cut off the flow of the river altogether to both neighbours.</p> <p>In 1989, Syria and Iraq agreed to divide the quota of the Euphrates River given to them, whereby Syria’s share amounted to 42 per cent and 52 per cent went to Iraq. Later, in 2000, the two sides agreed that Syria should receive a share of the Tigris water (which flows 50km inside its border), enough to irrigate almost 200,000 hectares of land.</p> <p>In the end, sharing the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris became a capricious matter, not relying on clear and precise agreements based on international law. Turkey’s whims dictate quotas with no base in international law. In 2007, a three-way meeting failed to result in a comprehensive agreement on the issue because Turkey refused to change the status quo and wanted to make it a de facto arrangement.</p> <p>Syria’s project to divert Tigris water, which it started publicly planning at the beginning of this year, has antagonised the Iraqis to an unexpected degree, and Baghdad’s reaction came as a surprise to Damascus. This is especially true since there is a preliminary agreement regarding this issue with the previous regime in Iraq, which Iraqis today consider invalid. The Syrians counter that the agreement was concluded with a legitimate Iraqi government and not one person per se, and it is illogical to annul agreements between countries every time the regime changes.</p> <p>Syrian political circles feel that Iraq’s reasoning is another attempt by Iraq’s government to raise tensions between the two countries, and manipulate this domestically now that Iraq is about to form a new government.</p> <p>Relations between the two neighbours have not been at their best for almost one year, after Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki accused Syria of hosting and assisting Al-Baath Party elements who support the ousted regime in Baghdad. Iraq claims these elements are behind a number of attacks in Baghdad which have killed hundreds of Iraqis. These accusations also came as a surprise for the Syrians who said they have tried their utmost in the past few years to prevent fighters from going into Iraq by more vigilant control of the border. At the same time, Syria is home to 1.5 million Iraqi refugees and says it has cooperated with Iraqi authorities.</p> <p>Syrian officials believe that Iraq’s objections to the Tigris project are not a result of Iraqi concerns over water but have other political goals to do with domestic Iraqi politics, power struggles among Iraqi factions, and complications in forming Iraq’s new cabinet.</p> <p>No doubt, the quarrel between Syria and Iraq over the past decades has allowed Turkey to do as it pleases with the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris. Today, closer ties between Damascus and Ankara — which could almost be described as a strategic alliance — are still not enough to convince Turkey to admit that these are international rivers, and it continues to control them unilaterally.</p> <p>Observers believe that rising political friction between Syria and Iraq, their distraction with secondary issues over more important ones, and their lax positions towards Turkey on the water issue and other matters have not only caused tension, but resulted in immense strategic losses for both parties. </p> <p>They will have to look beyond this current spat and focus on the real problem — resolving the quota issue with Turkey.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126051314/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/1002/re85.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Al-Ahram Weekly | Region | Turkey muddies the water</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a 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