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The UN reports that Iraqi refugees now total 4.2 million and the number is expected to increase. There are an estimated 2.2 Million Iraqis that have crossed the borders and 1.9 million displaced inside Iraq. The rough population estimate of Iraq was 25 million. To compare there are only 2 to 2.5 million people displaced in the Darfur region of Sudan. An estimated 200,000 have been killed in Darfur, but estimates of civilian deaths in Iraq over the last five years have ranged from 70,000 to 600,000 to a million in the British medical journal The Lancet. It is time to focus on this disaster and more importantly the concept of triage as aid organizations publicize the fact that they are unable to handle this problem. Iraq may have slipped from needing reconstruction to emergency surgery. According to the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) there are 8 million people in immediate need of assistance. The NCCI's figure are more disturbing; 4 million displaced and 4 million in danger of not having basic sustenance. In January, 2003 the UN accurately predicted the surge in Iraqis that would require aid and continues to issue disturbing estimates that are likely to become true as well (see below)
There are an estimated 25 million people from 40 countries considered as Internally Displaced People. and clearly Iraq has moved to the top of this list. There are also similarities between Darfur and Iraq. Both are emergencies driven by a methodical ethnic cleansing campaign sanctioned or ignored by the legal government. But unlike Darfur where the islamic government refuses to allow western intervention, Iraq is under an active program of intervention, security operations and military campaigning to reduce violence but results seem to indicate that this effort is having the opposite effect by increasing the flow or Iraqis out of their own country. Journalists may remember the well organized program to handle expected refugees during the opening weeks of the war and how Iraqis stayed put. Five years later, things have changed. Instead of well stocked and provisioned camps with neat rows of tents awaiting refugees they are being forced to build shanty towns and scavenge for food.
Currently NGOs and aid organizations in Iraq are subject to kidnapping, killing, threats as well as the same basic economic and manpower shortages that hamper relief in other regions of the world.
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List of IDP's WorldWide here
OFFICIAL UNHCR PRESS RELEASE:
Iraq: Situation continues to worsen, local governorates overwhelmed
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 5 June 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The situation in Iraq continues to worsen, with more than 2 million Iraqis now believed to be displaced inside Iraq and another 2.2 million sheltering in neighbouring states. Calls for increased international support for governments in the region have so far brought few results, and access to social services for Iraqis remains limited. Most of the burden is being carried by Jordan and Syria.
Inside Iraq, some 85 percent of the displaced are in the central and southern regions. Most of those displaced are from Baghdad and surrounding districts. Since February last year, an estimated 820,000 people have been displaced, including 15,000 Palestinians who have nowhere to go.
Individual governorates inside Iraq are becoming overwhelmed by the needs of the displaced. At least 10 out of the 18 governorates have closed their borders or are restricting access to new arrivals. UNHCR is receiving disturbing reports of regional authorities refusing to register new arrivals, including single women, and denying access to government services. Many displaced have been evicted from public buildings. Combined with the general lack of resources, this has led to a growing number of impoverished shanty towns. The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and WFP indicate that at least 47 percent of the displaced have no access to official food distribution channels.
The number of Iraqis fleeing to neighbouring countries remains high. According to government figures, some 1.4 million Iraqis are now displaced in Syria, up to 750,000 in Jordan, 80,000 in Egypt and some 200,000 in the Gulf region. Syria alone receives a minimum of 30,000 Iraqis a month.
Recognition rates of Iraqis in various countries outside the region, particularly in Europe, remain low. UNHCR repeats its call for all borders to remain open to those in need of protection.
UNHCR is rapidly expanding its operations and presence in the region, but the magnitude of the crisis is staggering. We now have 300 staff working full time on Iraqi displacement. They are based in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Geneva and in Iraq itself. Since the beginning of the year, our offices in surrounding countries have registered more than 130,000 Iraqi refugees. By the end of May, UNHCR had interviewed some 7,000 of the most vulnerable Iraqis and sent their dossiers to potential resettlement countries for their further assessment and action. We urge these countries to make rapid decisions and facilitate the departure of those most in need. Resettlement, however, remains an option for only a few of the most vulnerable Iraqis. Our goal is to provide up to 20,000 Iraqi resettlement cases to governments this year.
Analysis of detailed statistics show that in Syria alone, about 47,000 of the 88,447 refugees registered since the beginning of this year are in need of special assistance. About a quarter of them require legal or protection assistance, including many victims of torture. Nearly 19 percent have serious medical conditions. UNHCR has opened two community outreach centres in Damascus and will shortly open two more. Food and medical aid is being provided to the most vulnerable. We are also working with an increasing number of local and international partners who are helping with health, education, counselling and vocational training.
Two international UNHCR staff are working in Erbil and another is scheduled to go to Baghdad when the security situation permits. These international staff are reinforcing more than 20 local UNHCR staff in seven locations in Iraq. Our goal is to provide basic assistance and shelter to some 300,000 uprooted Iraqis inside the country by the end of this year. This, however, is just a fraction of the overall needs. UNHCR legal aid centres in 18 governorates have provided advice to over 10,700 displaced Iraqis. By the end of 2007 we also plan to provide essential medical/health, food and individual assistance to 50,000 of the most vulnerable Iraqis in neighbouring countries.
