03/22/2007

CONTACT: Megan Fowler
202-828-0110, ri@refugeesinternatonal.org

NEW REPORT FROM REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL:

A report released today by Refugees International calls the flight of Iraqis from war-torn areas for regions of greater security within Iraq “the world’s fastest growing displacement crisis.” The report details the humanitarian disaster faced by internally displaced people (IDPs) in Northern Iraq, and criticizes the U.N. and U.S. and Iraqi governments for failing to respond adequately and for losing the trust of the Iraqi people.

Based on recent figures from the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the report says approximately 12 percent of Iraq’s population is expected to be internally displaced by the end of this calendar year. Even those who have landed in the most secure regions, such as the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq, are now facing intense food shortages as well as a lack of jobs, affordable housing and school access. As a result, many are forced to return to the areas from which they came, despite the security threat. The U.N., U.S. and Iraqi governments, and relief agencies have so far failed to address this crisis and have, as a result, lost the trust of the Iraqi people, the report says.

“The U.N. and U.S. and Iraqi governments are still in denial about the crisis on the ground in Iraq. They expect people to use [food] ration cards, even though those cards are nearly impossible to transfer outside of your area of permanent residence. They expect families to send their kids to school, even though there aren’t enough Arabic-language schools for the children now in the Kurdish region. The Iraqi people are frustrated that they don’t see the U.N. anywhere,” said Refugees International’s Kristele Younes, author and co-researcher of the report. The research for the report was conducted over two weeks in Northern Iraq by Younes and Nir Rosen for Refugees International.

The report, which focuses on the three most stable states in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq includes U.N.H.C.R. estimates that 727,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the 2006 bombing of Samarra. In total, 1.9 million Iraqis have been uprooted—including 1 million before 2003—but remain within the country; more than two million Iraqis have fled the country altogether.

The report outlines eight steps that international agencies could take to address humanitarian problems on the ground. The U.N. and U.S. and Iraqi governments must acknowledge the crisis as a destabilizing force in the region; seek additional funding to provide aid to displaced Iraqis; and reform existing aid programs, including the food rations system.

In December 2006, Refugees International reported on the growing number of Iraqis fleeing the country for other countries in the region and, from there, overseas. That crisis also continues unabated.

Read the report on internal displacement in northern Iraq.

Read more about the Iraqi refugee crisis.