Refugees International accused the Government of Iraq of ignoring the welfare of four million displaced Iraqis after an Iraqi parliamentary committee made its third request this year for funding to assist them. As the Iraqi parliamentary committee on displacement and migration requested $4 billion of next year's $78.8 billion budget, Refugees International called on the Government of Iraq to immediately provide the requested funding and design a strategy to adequately respond to the crisis. Refugees International also urged the U.S. government to provide the Government of Iraq with the support needed to take these essential steps as the humanitarian needs of internally displaced Iraqis and Iraqi refugees continue to increase.
"There is no excuse for the Government of Iraq's poor response to the displacement of Iraqis," said Kristele Younes, Senior Advocate with Refugees International. "With a projected 2009 budget of nearly 80 billion dollars, the government has the resources to help people who have been uprooted from their homes. To stabilize Iraq, their needs must be met in the places they live now."
Approximately 1.5 million Iraqis are refugees in Syria, Jordan and other neighbors of Iraq, and 2.8 million are displaced within their own country. While neighboring governments, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and others are trying to respond to the main needs of the displaced, the Government of Iraq's contributions have been negligible. Iraq's meager contribution of 25 million dollars to host countries and its efforts to pressure people to return home have led host Governments to adopt harsher visa and residency regimes for Iraqis.
Inside Iraq, the government's failure to act has led to the increased power and influence of non-state actors as they fill the assistance vacuum created by the State. In April, Refugees International's released Uprooted and Unstable, which detailed that Iraqi militias were the largest providers of aid inside the country. The report also highlighted the numerous obstacles to Iraqis returning home. Although violence in Iraq has decreased, the situation is far from stable and many people's homes are damaged or occupied by militants or other families.
"Displaced Iraqis will not be able to return home until it is clear that they will not be displaced again," said Younes. "Most refugees believe they might never be able to go home, as they have been directly threatened and their homes are occupied. Instead of pressuring displaced civilians to return to danger and chaos, it is time for the Government of Iraq to assist them in their areas of asylum."
Refugees International is a Washington, DC-based organization that advocates to end refugee crises. Since November 2006, Refugees International has been urging the Government of Iraq and the international community to assist displaced Iraqis. Staff members are currently in Damascus assessing the problems facing Iraqi refugees, the organization's sixth mission to the Middle East in the last two years. Read our most recent recommendations at: www.refugeesinternational.org/iraq.
