BAGHDAD (IRIN) - The Iraqi and US governments should do more to address
Iraq's displacement crisis which has affected over four million people
and threatens regional stability, a group of Iraqi and international
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has said.
"We endorse a bolder approach to helping vulnerable Iraqis, especially
ones who are displaced. Current US efforts to help Iraqis are a good
start, but they don't go far enough," said the 8 August statement by
scores of NGOs inside and outside Iraq.
"The Iraqi government is responsible for assisting its internally
displaced population as well as other vulnerable Iraqis, and all
efforts should be made to urge more action and assist its efforts," it
continued.
The statement said many Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries were
struggling to survive as their savings were limited and they did not
have the legal right to work; many lived in fear of being forcibly
returned to Iraq, and face possible death threats and persecution.
"As their stay in neighboring countries drags on without any immediate
solution in sight, the protection concerns facing these people continue
to rise," the statement said.
Call for USA to resettle more people
The group praised the US government's efforts in resettling around
10,000 Iraqi refugees (and the planned resettlement of another 12,000
refugees in 2008), but it said: "The needs are much greater. We ask the
US to reconsider resettling 105,500 refugees from Iraq and, if
necessary, to reassess this number for the next few years."
These calls were echoed by Basil al-Azawi, head of the Baghdad-based
Commission for Civil Society Enterprises, an umbrella group for more
than 1,000 NGOs.
"There is clear negligence by the Iraqi government, other governments
and international bodies via-a-vis the needs of the internally
displaced persons [IDPs] and refugees in neighboring countries who are
forgotten," al-Azawi told IRIN.
"Iraq is still a country of conflicts and therefore the most dangerous place in the world," he said.
Lack of data
The NGO statement said Iraqi institutions should be strengthened to
provide improved services to all vulnerable Iraqis, especially IDPs,
and prepare comprehensive data.
Al-Azawi blamed the lack of data on the paucity of government offices
dealing with IDPs: "There are some families who have not been
registered yet because government offices are located in remote areas
and they find it hard to reach these offices to register."
"All actors recognize that [IDP] needs are enormous and unmet. The
needs of IDPs and other vulnerable Iraqis are extremely difficult to
address, as there is a generalized lack of information and hard data,"
the statement said.
