Iraq: Tough Call for Refugees

(Image from JF)

After undergoing intense, international pressure by states, activists, and even Angelina Jolie; the Iraqi government has allocated $195 million to encourage refugees to return to their homes. The funds are said to go towards the covering of costs of travel, financial aid, and the compensation of destroyed property.

As the government has been increasingly sending the message that the security situation has vastly improved, 2 million internally displaced Iraqis and yet another 2.5 million in neighboring countries now are facing a tough call to decide when the right time is to return home. The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Development said: "We expect as many as 100,000 people to return this year to their homes whether we pay for them or not as Iraq is witnessing a remarkable security development."

The refugee crisis in Iraq is immense. As of March 2008, one of five Iraqis have been displaced, which has particularly overwhelmed the neighboring countries of Lebanon, Syria and Jordan with torrents of refugees. Unfortunately, these destinations do not exactly provide a safe haven. Human Rights Watch has reported how, for example, "Iraqi refugees in Lebanon live in constant fear of arrest...Refugees who are arrested face the prospect of rotting in jail indefinitely unless they agree to return to Iraq and face the dangers there."

Yet, despite these fears, some view returning to Iraq a worse option - not necessarily because of the continuing violence, but simply of the lawlessness that has yet to be remedied. One father recounted how, after he and his son were released from a jail in Lebanon, they returned to Iraq only to have his son kidnapped. After paying a ransom to get him back, they returned to Lebanon and said: "I don’t want to go back to Iraq. I want to stay in Lebanon, even if they break every bone in my body, even if we don’t feel safe here, because we are illegal.”

So, will minimal compensation, financial aid and subsidies for travel really ease the concerns of these refugees? Probably not.

And even if it did, $195 million is not nearly enough to make a difference. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) projected their basic operations to cost $800 million in 2008. Having barely half of these funds that they require, the aid organization just said last month that they would unfortunately have to slash programs in Syria and Jordan. Of the millions out there, UNHCR has only been able to register 280,000 refugees in these countries.

The International Rescue Committee estimates that $2 billion is needed annually for the next 2-4 years to aid refugees in Syria and Jordan alone.

Politics have been hindering support for Iraqi refugees not only in Baghdad, but also in Washington. Organizations such as Refugees International have been criticizing US financial support as insufficient.

As awareness is raised on this issue and debate heightens, policymakers need to understand the magnitude of this problem and the difficulty of the problems which these refugees face. Enough financial support needs to be generated so that adequate support can realistically be provided to: 1) help those who want to return go home safely; and 2) help those who do not want to return by properly assisting them to resettle elsewhere.