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President-elect Barack Obama believes that displacement poses both humanitarian and security problems.  A recent article in The New York Times illustrates this point by describing problems caused by angry youths in Sudanese refugee camps.

Some 2.7 million people in the Darfur region of Sudan have been displaced by five years of civil war, and many of them live in vast camps.  “Increasingly angry and outspoken about their uncertain fate, the generation that came of age in the camps is challenging the traditional sheiks, upending the age-old authority structure of their tribal society and complicating efforts to achieve peace,” The Times reported over the weekend.

The story caught my eye because it highlights a serious problem:  long stays in camps—either as refugees out of their countries or displaced within their own countries—can radicalize youth.  We have seen this over the years with Palestinians and with Afghan refugees, and we could well see it with displaced Iraqi youths who are living in increasingly desperate conditions.

Although most of the nearly five million displaced Iraqis don’t live in camps, they endure many of the same problems—economic hardship, limited educational opportunities, and long, boring days with little reason to hope that they will return home soon or have an opportunity to work.   While girls are often busy helping their mothers, young men have less to do, making them susceptible to recruitment by political or militia movements.

Heading off the potential radicalization of Iraqi youth should be a top priority for the government of Iraq and for the U.S.  This means resolving the displacement crisis—one out of every five Iraqis is either a refugee or internally displaced—as quickly as possible.

Earlier this year Refugees International and other agencies gave the Bush administration a comprehensive plan for addressing Iraqi displacement. Although the Bush team has taken some steps, including increased resettlement and increased aid, to help displaced Iraqis, it has not done nearly enough.

As the Obama administration takes office, it will face an urgent need to deal with Iraqi displacement.  U.S troops are starting to withdraw.  Under a plan worked out by the U.S. and Iraq and adopted by the Iraqi parliament, U.S. combat troops are supposed to withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all American troops are to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.  By then both the U.S. and Iraq hope that a combination of political reconciliation, economic progress and new respect for Iraqi rule of law will lead to a safe and stable Iraq.

But neither Iraq nor the region will be safe and stable if five million Iraqis are still displaced, with 2.7 million in Iraq and the rest living as refugees in Jordan, Syria and other nearby countries.  The only sensible, durable solution is to create conditions for safe return, something that is going to require coordination by the U.S. and Iraq.  The government of Iraq has only started to deal with a host of complex legal and property issues necessary to encourage return.  But most important, Iraq will have to demonstrate that it can keep its cities safe and provide the services, including schools, that returning Iraqis need.

You can make a gift in support of Refugees International’s work to ensure greater stability in Iraq, and help us urge President-elect Obama to address the Iraqi displacement challenge as quickly as possible. Donate today.

--Kenneth Bacon