Refugees of Iraq
Encyclopedia
Throughout the past 100 years, there have been a growing number of refugee
s fleeing Iraq
and settling throughout the world, peaking recently with the latest Iraq War. Most of Iraqi Jews, some 120,000, fled the country in mass exodus of 1950-1952
. Tens of thousands of Kurds turned displaced and fled the war zones following First
and Second Kurdish Iraqi War
s in 1960s and 1970s. The Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988, the 1990 Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, the first Gulf War
and subsequent conflicts all generated hundreds of thousands if not millions of refugees. Iran also provided asylum
for 1,400,000 Iraqi refugees who had been uprooted as a result of the Persian Gulf War
(1990–91) and the subsequent rebellions
.
In 2007, the United Nations
estimated that nearly 5 million refugees fled the country since 2003, with nearly 100,000 fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month. In October 2006, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) and the Iraqi government estimated that more than 365,000 Iraqis had been displaced since the 2006 bombing of the al-Askari Mosque
, bringing the total number of Iraqi refugee
s to more than 1.6 million.
The Iraqi minister of migration and displacement, Dendar Duski, estimated in October 2011 that more than half of the as many as 2.5 million people internally displaced in Iraq had yet to return home.
More recent numbers estimate that those numbers have continued to grow. Costs of War, a report from Brown University
's Watson Institute for International Studies
, reported that "three and a half million Iraqis have fled their homes and have not returned" since 2003. That number includes 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 1.8 million Iraqi expatriates. The UNHCR puts the number even higher, estimating 4.7 million displaced Iraqis since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion
. The UNHCR reports the same proportion of IDP refugees in Iraq as Costs of War--i.e., 2.4 million internally displaced Iraqis, of which 58% rent housing, 18% live with host families or relatives, 24% live in public buildings, but only 1% live in tented camps. This has caused a strain on infrastructure and further deterioration in the humanitarian situation where 4 million are food insecure (25% of children are chronically malnourished) and only one in three children has access to safe drinking water.
According to official United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
statistics, 58,811 Iraqis have been granted refugee-status citizenship as of May 25, 2011. Large numbers of Iraqi refugees have also been resettled in Australia
and Canada
, and in the Western European countries of Germany
, France
, the Netherlands
, the United Kingdom
, Switzerland
, Sweden
, Denmark
, and Norway
. Smaller numbers have been resettled in other smaller, wealthy Western nations, such as Ireland
, Belgium
and New Zealand
.
and 2 million in neighboring countries.
Most ventured to Jordan
and Syria
, creating demographic shifts that have worried both governments. A fear persisted in both countries, and others hosting sizeable Iraqi
refugee populations, that sectarian tensions would spill over amongst the exiles. These refugees were estimated to have been leaving Iraq at a rate of 3,000 per day by December 2006.
According to the U.N., roughly 40% of Iraq's middle class
is believed to have fled. Most are fleeing systematic persecution and have no desire to return. Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries. In Syria alone an estimated 50,000 Iraqi girls and women, many of them widows, are forced into prostitution
just to survive.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a terrifying event in which graves physical harm occurred or was threaten
Research has shown that refugees are more likely to experience PTSD than a migrant that voluntarily left their native country. 25% of war-affected refugees with suffer some kind of psychological disorder. Risk, Suffering, and Competing Narratives in the Psychiatric Assessment of an Iraqi Refugee. Pauline Savy and Anne-Maree Sawyer.
There is currently no studies on the mental health treatment efficacy with Iraqi refugees. People that have a higher level of education, speak the language in the country they have exiled to,and by having have a strong religious belief can sometimes decrease the chances of experiencing PTSD.
were ethnically cleansed by Shia and Sunni militias and sectarian violence
has broken out in every Iraqi city where there is a mixed population. Sunnis have fled Basra
, while Shias were driven out of cities and towns north of Baghdad such as Samarra
or Baquba. Satellite shows ethnic cleansing
in Iraq was key factor in "surge
" success. Some areas are being evacuated by every member of a particular secular group due to lack of security, moving into new areas because of fear of reprisal killings. As of 2007, the title "Kidnapping
Capital of the World" belongs to Baghdad
.
For decades, Saddam Hussein 'Arabized
' northern Iraq. Now his ethnic cleansing is being reversed. Thousands of ethnic Kurds pushed into lands formerly held by Iraqi Arab
s, forcing at least 100,000 of them to flee to refugee camps. Sunni Arabs have driven out at least 70,000 Kurds from the Mosul
’s western half. Nowadays, eastern Mosul is Kurdish and western Mosul is Sunni Arab. The policies of Kurdification
by KDP
and PUK
after 2003 (with non-Kurds being pressures to move, in particular Assyrian Christians
and Iraqi Turkmen
) have prompted serious inter-ethnic problems. Assyrian and Turkmen villages, towns and communities have more recently formed their own armed militias to protect themselves from violence and intimidation from Arab Islamist and Kurdish Nationalist elements. Shabaks, Yazidis and Armenians are also suffering under the policy of "Kurdification".
. In fiscal year 2006, just 202 refugees from Iraq were allowed to resettle in the United States. As a result of growing international pressure, on June 1, 2007 the Bush administration said it was ready to admit 7,000 Iraqi refugees who had helped the coalition since the invasion. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants
were granted legal permanent residence in the U.S., including 70,000 refugees. According to Washington
based Refugees International
the U.S. has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees since the invasion, Sweden
had accepted 18,000 and Australia
almost 6,000. As many as 110,000 Iraqis could be targeted as collaborators
because of their work for coalition forces.
Jordan
had taken in roughly 750,000 Iraqi refugees since the war began by December 2006. Jordan had been criticized by human rights organizations for not classifying the newcomers by the title "refugee" and instead labeled them "visitors," disinclining the Jordanian government from extending to the Iraqis the same benefits enjoyed by 1.5 million Palestinian refugees residing in Jordan.
Jordanians expressed resentment to the newcomers, built up since the influx of refugees during and following the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Then, affluent Iraqis arrived and invested in the Jordanian economy, sending prices soaring too high for many working class or lower class Jordanians. Following the 2003 war and subsequent reconstruction, the arrival of mostly poor Iraqis compounded problems, increasing demand and applying more pressure on the Jordanian economy.
The government had also been accused of cracking down on Shiite activities in the country while allowing Sunni Iraqis to carry on their lives without harassment from the government. The authorities denied any discrimination, claiming it treated any illicit activity by Sunnis or Shiites from Iraq equally.
had taken in roughly a million refugees by December 2006, with it possible as many as half of them were Assyrian Christians
. Most of them had settled in and around the city and suburbs of Damascus
. The reason for its large refugee population can be attributed to more than just geography. Syria maintained an open-door policy to Iraqis fleeing the war-ravaged country. In the case of the Assyrian Christians
, Syria has a large Assyrian and Syriac Christian population, and many Assyrians have found help and support from them.
Syrian authorities worried that the new influx of refugees would limit the country's resources. Sources like oil, heat, water and electricity were said to be becoming more scarce as demand had gone up.
In Syria
alone an estimated 50,000 refugee girls and women, many of them widows, are forced into prostitution just to survive. Cheap Iraqi prostitutes have helped to make Syria a popular destination for sex tourists. The clients come from wealthier countries in the Middle East
- many are Saudi
men.
On October 1, 2007 news agencies reported that the Syria
n government decided to implement a strict visa regime to limit the number of Iraqis pouring into the country at up to 5,000 per day, cutting the only accessible escape route for thousands of refugees fleeing the civil war in Iraq. Under Syria's new rules, only Iraqi merchants, businessmen and university professors with visas
acquired from Syrian embassies may enter Syria. Until then, Syria was the only country resisting strict entry regulations for Iraqis.
, which does not border Iraq, became a major destination for Iraqi refugees in 2006. As of December, the refugee population was approaching 150,000, 50 percent more than early October. Only 800 refugees were in Egypt in 2003. In 2007, Egypt imposed restrictions on the entry of new refugees into the country.
(also known as Chaldo-Assyrians) are thought to have fled the sectarian fighting in Iraq. They are of ancient Mesopotamian heritage, and the oldest ethnic group in Iraq. Most chose to go to Syria due to the cultural similarities between the two countries, Syria's open-door policy to Iraqis, and the large population of Assyrians and other Christians in the country which perhaps totals as high as 2 million. The large influx of Iraqis may tip the demographic scale in a country with a diverse population. Although Christians probably represent less than 5% of the total Iraqi population, they make up to 13% of the refugees now living in nearby countries. Between October 2003 and March 2005 alone, 36% of 700,100 Iraqis who fled to Syria were Assyrians and Armenian Christians, judging from a sample of those registering for asylum on political or religious grounds.
Since 2003, many Armenians have suffered the same level of Islamic extremist violence as the Assyrians
. Many have fled to Syria or Europe. There are now only one or two Armenian villages left in Iraq.
they are of ancient Mesopotamian heritage. They are the last practicing gnostic
sect in the Middle East. There are thought to have been about 40,000 Mandaeans in Iraq prior to the US-led invasion. As a non-Muslim, non Arab group, they have been abused by sectarian militias. The vast majority of Baghdadi Mandaeans left Baghdad
many have fled to Syria
, Jordan
and elsewhere while Mandaean communities of southern Iraq are still more or less secure with the exception of Basra
where the Mandaean Manda (Temple) was attacked by an unknown militia. Mandaean diaspora organizations are reportedly focusing all their resources on evacuating all the remaining Mandaeans in Iraq.
Being such a small community the Mandaeans do not enjoy the same militia
protection and this has left them vulnerable to the extremist elements in both the Sunni and Shia communities. This has led to numerous instances of torture
, rape
, theft and murder
.
These very real threats coupled with the inability of the US and Iraqi government to offer protection has resulted in the Mandaean population falling from circa 50,000 to less than 13,000 (September 2005) and 5,000 (March 2007) ethnically cleansing
them from Iraqi society.
Denied access by Syria, more than 350 Palestinians remained in "inhumane conditions" on the Syrian border until finally being allowed into the country. They face more uncertain conditions because most Palestinians do not hold Iraqi citizenship and consequently do not hold passports. The UNHCR appealed to Israel to allow this particular group of refugees admission into the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. The agency said that from resettlement countries, only Canada and Syria had taken Palestinians from Iraq in the past.
community was also affected by several acts of violence in 2007. On April 23, 2007 masked gunmen abducted and shot 23 Yazidis
near Mosul
. On August 14, 2007 Yazidis were targeted in a series of bombings that became the deadliest suicide attack since the Iraq War began.
. Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq
it has been difficult for Iraq's Qawliya population to seek autonomy and safety. Many of their villages have been destroyed or taken over by religious militias, and this has forced Qawliya to flee to the north. One of these destroyed villages was itself called
in Iraq. Despite having their own language and culture unique from other groups, Kurdish authorities have attempted to Kurdify
the Shabaks by occupying Shabak villages and referring to them as "Kurdish Shabaks". In 2005, two Assyrians were killed and four Shabaks were wounded by the KDP during a demonstration organized by the Democratic Shabak Coalition, a group which wants separate representation for the Shabak community.
CNN
reports that gay Iraqis continue to be subjected to threats, rape, kidnapping and murder based on their sexual orientation.
alone in 2006—79 for violation of "Islam
ic teachings" and 47 for honour killings, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Amnesty International claims honour killings are also conducted by Shia militias
upon politically active women and those who did not follow a strict dress code, as well as women who are perceived as human rights defenders. The attacks on the women have intensified since British forces withdrew to their base in September 2007. Iraqi security forces
are heavily infiltrated by militias.
In Sulaymaniyah
, there were 400 cases of the burning
of women in 2006. In Iraqi Kurdistan
, at least 255 women had been killed in just the first six months of 2007, three-quarters of them by burning. Beheadings, stoning
(see stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad
), rape
s, abduction, beatings, suicide
s through self-immolation, genital mutilation
, trafficking
and child abuse
masquerading as marriage of girls as young as nine are all on the increase.
Many of the Iraqi women fleeing the Iraq war are turning to prostitution
to feed their children. An estimated 50,000 prostitutes, some as young as 13, are among the 1.2 million Iraqis who fled to Syria.
and the United Nations
developed a plan to settle several thousand refugees in the United States.
In an initial step, refugees would apply for applicant status. The UN aims to register 135,000 to 200,000 to determine which people had fled persecution and would thus qualify for refugee status.
The US aims to settle at least 5,000 of this group in the US by the end of 2007. Since the 2003 invasion, the US has settled 466 Iraqi refugees. The first group of anticipated refugees are presently in Turkey, and had fled during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Subsequently, refugees would be accepted from Syria, and then from Jordan. Kristele Younes of Refugees International
supported these moves towards resettlement, but she said that "the numbers remain low compared to what the needs are.”
A July 22, 2007 article notes that in the past nine months only 133 of the planned 7000 Iraqi
refugees were allowed into the United States.
Of the refugees' status, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts) said, “We can’t solve the problem alone, but we obviously bear a heavy responsibility for the crisis.”
According to Washington-based Refugees International the U.S. has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees since the invasion, Sweden had accepted 18,000 and Australia
had resettled almost 6,000. More than 2 million refugees have arrived in the U.S. since 1980, including about 1 million from Vietnam
, while Australia and Canada
accepted more than 250,000 Vietnamese refugees
. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants were granted legal residence in the United States.
Sweden
, known for liberal asylum policies, has seen a surge of refugees from war-torn Iraq in the last year. Sweden currently accepts more than half of all asylum applications from Iraqis in Europe. In 2006, more than 9,000 Iraqis fled their country and came to Sweden seeking shelter, a four times increase over 2005. Sweden's immigration authority expects up to 40,000 Iraqis seeking asylum in 2007. An estimated 79,200 Iraqis call Sweden their home. Many Iraqis fled to Sweden during the 90's as well. Current refugees like Sweden because many of their relatives are there and because of the generous refugee policies.
The United Nations
in February 2007 appealed for $60 million to assist displaced Iraqis.
At the end of July 2007 the NGO Coordinating Committee in Iraq (NCCI) and Oxfam International issued a report, Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq, that said that one-third of the populace was in need of aid. (The NCCI is an alliance of approximately 80 international NGOs and 200 Iraqi NGOs, formed in Baghdad in 2003.) The report, based on survey research of the nation's civilian population, reports that 70 percent of the population lacks proper access to water supplies. Only 20 percent of the population has proper sanitation. Almost 30 percent of children experience malnutrition. About 92 percent of children experience problems learning. These figures represent sharp increases since 2003.
that was already underway since 1980 with the Iran-Iraq War
, followed by the 1991 Gulf War, brutal Ba'ath Party party policies, and more than a decade of sanctions. In regards to the economy, high inflation and high unemployment rates are the major factors contributing to the unstable economic situation today. Moreover, while corruption was widespread during Saddam Hussein
's rule, the system of corruption and patronage continued after the 2003 invasion.
With the flight of well-educated professionals, particularly academics and doctors, Iraq’s healthcare and education systems crumbled, increasing the incentive for remaining professionals to follow suit and flee. Academics and doctors were particularly targeted for kidnapping or killing after they lost their jobs for having any association with the Ba'ath Party, many of which had little to no ideological connection to the Ba'ath Party regime. Some kidnappings were attributed to sectarian strife, but others were for financial reasons since the families of professionals could pay higher ransom. By the mid-2006, there was an average of 30 kidnappings daily in Baghdad and by April 2008, BRussells Tribunal website reported that 353 academics had been murdered, most of whom held PhDs. In regard to doctors, the Iraqi Red Crescent reports that out of 34,000 doctors in 2003, 50% had left by 2007 and among the specialists, 70% had fled Iraq.
The policy of De-Ba'athification
and the suspicion that Iraqi academics have connections to the old regime is part of what is preventing the return of the middle class. Moreover, the eruption of sectarianism increased the intrusion of religious and Shi’a militias in the academic field and impeded academics from freely expressing secular or opposing opinions. It is important to note, however, that the quality of Iraq’s higher education institutions began deteriorating in the 1990s when sanctions prevented research journals from entering Iraq, researchers from attending conferences, etc., which resulted in Iraq’s isolation from the international academic community.
According to research published by the World Bank
, the longer a skilled professional remains abroad, the less likely they will return even when the political and economic situation improves. A sustained brain drain could result in dire consequences for Iraq’s future, and an entirely new generation will have to be educated and trained to restore human capital, a critical component for long-term development. Moreover, the middle class in many societies plays a crucial role in the democratization process, and the brain drain could make Iraq more susceptible to authoritarian rule and all the more dependent on the US and the international community for institutional and economic structures.
Some argue that Iraqi human resources can be replenished by investing in training and education for the new generation, removing any vestiges of De-Ba'athification
policies, and providing strong incentives for the return of exiled Iraqi professionals. Many experts agree that the cessation of violence and the establishment of property rights or compensation for lost homes are also needed to facilitate return. According to the Economic and Social Council Commission on Human Rights:
The reintegration of exiled Iraqis could facilitate a brighter future for Iraq while serving the interests of host countries like Syria and Jordan, who do not wish to settle Iraqi refugees permanently, and are creating brain waste by barring Iraqi refugees from contributing to society with suitable employment.
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s fleeing Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and settling throughout the world, peaking recently with the latest Iraq War. Most of Iraqi Jews, some 120,000, fled the country in mass exodus of 1950-1952
Operation Ezra and Nehemiah
From 1950 to 1952, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah airlifted between 120,000 to 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel via Iran and Cyprus. The massive emigration of Iraqi Jews was among the most climactic events of Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries. By 1968 only 2,000 Jews remained in Iraq...
. Tens of thousands of Kurds turned displaced and fled the war zones following First
First Kurdish Iraqi War
First Kurdish Iraqi War was a tribal Kurdish uprising, led by Mustafa Barzani, in an attempt to establish independent Kurdish state in north Iraq. Throughout the 1960s, the uprising escalated into a long war, which failed to resolve despite internal power changes in Iraq...
and Second Kurdish Iraqi War
Second Kurdish Iraqi War
Second Kurdish Iraqi War was an offensive, led by Iraqi forces against rebel KDP troops of Mustafa Barzani during 1974-1975. The war came in the aftermath of the First Kurdish Iraqi War , as the 1970 peace plan for Kurdish autonomy had failed....
s in 1960s and 1970s. The Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988, the 1990 Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait, the first Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and subsequent conflicts all generated hundreds of thousands if not millions of refugees. Iran also provided asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
for 1,400,000 Iraqi refugees who had been uprooted as a result of the Persian Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
(1990–91) and the subsequent rebellions
1991 uprisings in Iraq
The 1991 uprisings in Iraq were a series of anti-governmental rebellions in southern and northern Iraq during the aftermath of the Gulf War. The revolt was fueled by the perception that the power of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was vulnerable at the time; as well as by heavily fueled anger at...
.
In 2007, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
estimated that nearly 5 million refugees fled the country since 2003, with nearly 100,000 fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month. In October 2006, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , also known as The UN Refugee Agency is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to...
(UNHCR) and the Iraqi government estimated that more than 365,000 Iraqis had been displaced since the 2006 bombing of the al-Askari Mosque
Al-Askari Mosque
Al ‘Askarī Mosque or the ‘Askariyya Mosque/Shrine is a Shī‘ah Muslim holy site located in the Iraqi city of Sāmarrā from Baghdad. It is one of the most important Shī‘ah mosques in the world, built in 944...
, bringing the total number of Iraqi refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s to more than 1.6 million.
The Iraqi minister of migration and displacement, Dendar Duski, estimated in October 2011 that more than half of the as many as 2.5 million people internally displaced in Iraq had yet to return home.
More recent numbers estimate that those numbers have continued to grow. Costs of War, a report from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
's Watson Institute for International Studies
Watson Institute for International Studies
The Watson Institute for International Studies is a center for the analysis of international issues at Brown University, focusing mainly on global security and political economy and society. Its faculty span a wide range of disciplines, including, anthropology, economics, political science, and...
, reported that "three and a half million Iraqis have fled their homes and have not returned" since 2003. That number includes 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 1.8 million Iraqi expatriates. The UNHCR puts the number even higher, estimating 4.7 million displaced Iraqis since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. The UNHCR reports the same proportion of IDP refugees in Iraq as Costs of War--i.e., 2.4 million internally displaced Iraqis, of which 58% rent housing, 18% live with host families or relatives, 24% live in public buildings, but only 1% live in tented camps. This has caused a strain on infrastructure and further deterioration in the humanitarian situation where 4 million are food insecure (25% of children are chronically malnourished) and only one in three children has access to safe drinking water.
According to official United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security . It performs many administrative functions formerly carried out by the legacy United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , which was part of the Department of Justice...
statistics, 58,811 Iraqis have been granted refugee-status citizenship as of May 25, 2011. Large numbers of Iraqi refugees have also been resettled in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and in the Western European countries of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Smaller numbers have been resettled in other smaller, wealthy Western nations, such as Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
Jews and Assyrian Christians forced migrations between 1843 and the 21st century
In his recent PhD thesis and in his recent book the Israeli scholar Mordechai Zaken discussed the history of the Assyrian Christians of Turkey and Iraq (in the Kurdish vicinity) during the last 180 years, from 1843 onwards. In his studies Zaken outlines three major eruptions that took place between 1843 and 1933 during which the Assyrian Christians lost their land and hegemony in their habitat in the Hakkārī (or Julamerk) region in southeastern Turkey and became refugees in other lands, notably Iran and Iraq, and ultimately in exiled communities in European and western countries (the USA, Canada, Australia, New-Zealand, Sweden, France, to mention some of these countries). Mordechai Zaken wrote this important study from an analytical and comparative point of view, comparing the Assyrian Christians experience with the experience of the Kurdish Jews who had been dwelling in Kurdistan for two thousands years or so, but were forced to migrate the land to Israel in the early 1950s. The Jews of Kurdistan were forced to leave and migrate as a result of the Arab-Israeli war, as a result of the increasing hostility and acts of violence against Jews in Iraq and Kurdish towns and villages, and as a result of a new situation that had been built up during the 1940s in Iraq and Kurdistan in which the ability of Jews to live in relative comfort and relative tolerance (that was erupted from time to time prior to that period) with their Arab and Muslim neighbors, as they did for many years, practically came to an end. At the end, the Jews of Kurdistan had to leave their Kurdish habitat en masse and migrate into Israel. The Assyrian Christians on the other hand, came to similar conclusion but migrated in stages following each and every eruption of a political crisis with the regime in which boundaries they lived or following each conflict with their Muslim, Turkish, Arabs or Kurdish neighbors, or following the departure or expulsion of their patriarch Mar Shimon in 1933, first to Cyprus and then to the United States. Consequently, indeed there is still a small and fragile community of Assyrians in Iraq, however, millions of Assyrian Christians live today in exiled and prosperous communities in the west.Iraq War
As of April 29, 2008, the UNHCR estimated that over 4.7 million Iraqis have been displaced, with 2.7 million within IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and 2 million in neighboring countries.
Most ventured to Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, creating demographic shifts that have worried both governments. A fear persisted in both countries, and others hosting sizeable Iraqi
Iraqi people
The Iraqi people or Mesopotamian people are natives or inhabitants of the country of Iraq, known since antiquity as Mesopotamia , with a large diaspora throughout the Arab World, Europe, the Americas, and...
refugee populations, that sectarian tensions would spill over amongst the exiles. These refugees were estimated to have been leaving Iraq at a rate of 3,000 per day by December 2006.
According to the U.N., roughly 40% of Iraq's middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
is believed to have fled. Most are fleeing systematic persecution and have no desire to return. Refugees are mired in poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host countries. In Syria alone an estimated 50,000 Iraqi girls and women, many of them widows, are forced into prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
just to survive.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a common anxiety disorder that develops after exposure to a terrifying event in which graves physical harm occurred or was threaten
Research has shown that refugees are more likely to experience PTSD than a migrant that voluntarily left their native country. 25% of war-affected refugees with suffer some kind of psychological disorder. Risk, Suffering, and Competing Narratives in the Psychiatric Assessment of an Iraqi Refugee. Pauline Savy and Anne-Maree Sawyer.
There is currently no studies on the mental health treatment efficacy with Iraqi refugees. People that have a higher level of education, speak the language in the country they have exiled to,and by having have a strong religious belief can sometimes decrease the chances of experiencing PTSD.
Sectarian violence
Entire neighborhoods in BaghdadBaghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
were ethnically cleansed by Shia and Sunni militias and sectarian violence
Sectarian violence
Sectarian violence and/or sectarian strife is violence inspired by sectarianism, that is, between different sects of one particular mode of ideology or religion within a nation/community...
has broken out in every Iraqi city where there is a mixed population. Sunnis have fled Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, while Shias were driven out of cities and towns north of Baghdad such as Samarra
Samarra
Sāmarrā is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Salah ad-Din Governorate, north of Baghdad and, in 2003, had an estimated population of 348,700....
or Baquba. Satellite shows ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
in Iraq was key factor in "surge
Iraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
" success. Some areas are being evacuated by every member of a particular secular group due to lack of security, moving into new areas because of fear of reprisal killings. As of 2007, the title "Kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
Capital of the World" belongs to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
.
For decades, Saddam Hussein 'Arabized
Arabization
Arabization or Arabisation describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture...
' northern Iraq. Now his ethnic cleansing is being reversed. Thousands of ethnic Kurds pushed into lands formerly held by Iraqi Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s, forcing at least 100,000 of them to flee to refugee camps. Sunni Arabs have driven out at least 70,000 Kurds from the Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
’s western half. Nowadays, eastern Mosul is Kurdish and western Mosul is Sunni Arab. The policies of Kurdification
Kurdification
Kurdification is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something ethnically non-Kurdish is made to become Kurdish, usually in contexts of post-Saddam Iraq, in particular in relation to Assyrian Christians, Shabaks and Iraqi Turkmen.- See also :...
by KDP
KDP
KDP may refer to:*Kurdistan Democratic Party of South Kurdistan*Kurdistan Democratic Party of East Kurdistan*Korea Democratic Party*Khmer Democratic Party*Communist Party of Germany *Kappa Delta Pi...
and PUK
PUK
PUK may stand for:* Patriotic Union of Kurdistan * Partia e Unitetit Kombėtar * Pin Unlock Key used in GSM mobile phones* Prefectural University of KumamotoPuk may refer to:...
after 2003 (with non-Kurds being pressures to move, in particular Assyrian Christians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
and Iraqi Turkmen
Iraqi Turkmen
The Iraqi Turkmen are an ethnic group who mainly reside in northern Iraq. Estimates of their numbers vary dramatically, in accordance with Iraq's assimilation policies no realistic and independent census results have been revealed regarding the Iraqi Turkmen population...
) have prompted serious inter-ethnic problems. Assyrian and Turkmen villages, towns and communities have more recently formed their own armed militias to protect themselves from violence and intimidation from Arab Islamist and Kurdish Nationalist elements. Shabaks, Yazidis and Armenians are also suffering under the policy of "Kurdification".
United States
As of May 25, 2007 article notes that in the past seven months only 69 people from Iraq have been granted refugee status in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In fiscal year 2006, just 202 refugees from Iraq were allowed to resettle in the United States. As a result of growing international pressure, on June 1, 2007 the Bush administration said it was ready to admit 7,000 Iraqi refugees who had helped the coalition since the invasion. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants
Immigration to the United States
Immigration to the United States has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants,...
were granted legal permanent residence in the U.S., including 70,000 refugees. According to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
based Refugees International
Refugees International
Refugees International is a humanitarian organization supporting refugees and stateless people. It publishes annual reports, as well as approximately twenty-five field reports throughout the year on refugee issues, as well as comments on international aid issues around the world...
the U.S. has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees since the invasion, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
had accepted 18,000 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
almost 6,000. As many as 110,000 Iraqis could be targeted as collaborators
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
because of their work for coalition forces.
El Cajon
El Cajon California has been the next welcoming city in the United States following Detroit Michigan in hosting refugees from Iraq. Refugees in the city of El Cajon have embraced the United States entrepreneur opportunities and began opening businesses. Although there is no clear estimates as to how many Iraqi refugees live in this city, it is obvious that there is no coincidence that they are here. Government social programs are trying their best to help them settle in but the 12.3% unemployment rate (as of Feb, 2011) in California only hinders their opportunities further.Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
had taken in roughly 750,000 Iraqi refugees since the war began by December 2006. Jordan had been criticized by human rights organizations for not classifying the newcomers by the title "refugee" and instead labeled them "visitors," disinclining the Jordanian government from extending to the Iraqis the same benefits enjoyed by 1.5 million Palestinian refugees residing in Jordan.
Jordanians expressed resentment to the newcomers, built up since the influx of refugees during and following the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Then, affluent Iraqis arrived and invested in the Jordanian economy, sending prices soaring too high for many working class or lower class Jordanians. Following the 2003 war and subsequent reconstruction, the arrival of mostly poor Iraqis compounded problems, increasing demand and applying more pressure on the Jordanian economy.
The government had also been accused of cracking down on Shiite activities in the country while allowing Sunni Iraqis to carry on their lives without harassment from the government. The authorities denied any discrimination, claiming it treated any illicit activity by Sunnis or Shiites from Iraq equally.
Syria
SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
had taken in roughly a million refugees by December 2006, with it possible as many as half of them were Assyrian Christians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
. Most of them had settled in and around the city and suburbs of Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. The reason for its large refugee population can be attributed to more than just geography. Syria maintained an open-door policy to Iraqis fleeing the war-ravaged country. In the case of the Assyrian Christians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
, Syria has a large Assyrian and Syriac Christian population, and many Assyrians have found help and support from them.
Syrian authorities worried that the new influx of refugees would limit the country's resources. Sources like oil, heat, water and electricity were said to be becoming more scarce as demand had gone up.
In Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
alone an estimated 50,000 refugee girls and women, many of them widows, are forced into prostitution just to survive. Cheap Iraqi prostitutes have helped to make Syria a popular destination for sex tourists. The clients come from wealthier countries in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
- many are Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
men.
Restrictions on refugees
On October 1, 2007 news agencies reported that the Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n government decided to implement a strict visa regime to limit the number of Iraqis pouring into the country at up to 5,000 per day, cutting the only accessible escape route for thousands of refugees fleeing the civil war in Iraq. Under Syria's new rules, only Iraqi merchants, businessmen and university professors with visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
acquired from Syrian embassies may enter Syria. Until then, Syria was the only country resisting strict entry regulations for Iraqis.
Egypt
EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, which does not border Iraq, became a major destination for Iraqi refugees in 2006. As of December, the refugee population was approaching 150,000, 50 percent more than early October. Only 800 refugees were in Egypt in 2003. In 2007, Egypt imposed restrictions on the entry of new refugees into the country.
Jews
About 120,000 Iraqi Jews fled Iraq and moved to Israel in 1951. Over the next decades, the community would further dwindle to an estimate of no greater than 100 in 2008.Assyrian Christians
Perhaps as many as half a million Iraqi Christians, Aramaic speaking ethnic AssyriansAssyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
(also known as Chaldo-Assyrians) are thought to have fled the sectarian fighting in Iraq. They are of ancient Mesopotamian heritage, and the oldest ethnic group in Iraq. Most chose to go to Syria due to the cultural similarities between the two countries, Syria's open-door policy to Iraqis, and the large population of Assyrians and other Christians in the country which perhaps totals as high as 2 million. The large influx of Iraqis may tip the demographic scale in a country with a diverse population. Although Christians probably represent less than 5% of the total Iraqi population, they make up to 13% of the refugees now living in nearby countries. Between October 2003 and March 2005 alone, 36% of 700,100 Iraqis who fled to Syria were Assyrians and Armenian Christians, judging from a sample of those registering for asylum on political or religious grounds.
Armenian Christians
Iraq is home to an ancient Armenian community of between 20,000 and 50,000.Since 2003, many Armenians have suffered the same level of Islamic extremist violence as the Assyrians
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
. Many have fled to Syria or Europe. There are now only one or two Armenian villages left in Iraq.
Mandaeans
Mandaeans are an ancient Aramaic speaking ethnoreligious group in southern Iraq. Like the AssyriansAssyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
they are of ancient Mesopotamian heritage. They are the last practicing gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
sect in the Middle East. There are thought to have been about 40,000 Mandaeans in Iraq prior to the US-led invasion. As a non-Muslim, non Arab group, they have been abused by sectarian militias. The vast majority of Baghdadi Mandaeans left Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
many have fled to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and elsewhere while Mandaean communities of southern Iraq are still more or less secure with the exception of Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
where the Mandaean Manda (Temple) was attacked by an unknown militia. Mandaean diaspora organizations are reportedly focusing all their resources on evacuating all the remaining Mandaeans in Iraq.
Being such a small community the Mandaeans do not enjoy the same militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
protection and this has left them vulnerable to the extremist elements in both the Sunni and Shia communities. This has led to numerous instances of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, theft and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
.
These very real threats coupled with the inability of the US and Iraqi government to offer protection has resulted in the Mandaean population falling from circa 50,000 to less than 13,000 (September 2005) and 5,000 (March 2007) ethnically cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
them from Iraqi society.
Palestinians
A Palestinian population of about 38,000 also faced pressure, with many living in the Baghdadi neighborhood of al-Baladiya.Denied access by Syria, more than 350 Palestinians remained in "inhumane conditions" on the Syrian border until finally being allowed into the country. They face more uncertain conditions because most Palestinians do not hold Iraqi citizenship and consequently do not hold passports. The UNHCR appealed to Israel to allow this particular group of refugees admission into the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank. The agency said that from resettlement countries, only Canada and Syria had taken Palestinians from Iraq in the past.
Yazidis
The YazidiYazidi
The Yazidi are members of a Kurdish religion with ancient Indo-Iranian roots. They are primarily a Kurdish-speaking people living in the Mosul region of northern Iraq, with additional communities in Transcaucasia, Armenia, Turkey, and Syria in decline since the 1990s – their members emigrating to...
community was also affected by several acts of violence in 2007. On April 23, 2007 masked gunmen abducted and shot 23 Yazidis
2007 Mosul massacre
The 2007 Mosul massacre was a mass killing that took place on April 23, 2007 in Mosul, in northern Iraq. A bus carrying workers from the Mosul Textile Factory was hijacked by unidentified attackers. The attackers checked the passengers' identity cards, telling Muslims and Christians to get off the...
near Mosul
Mosul
Mosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
. On August 14, 2007 Yazidis were targeted in a series of bombings that became the deadliest suicide attack since the Iraq War began.
Qawliya
The Kawliya or Qawliya are a small Roma minority in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
it has been difficult for Iraq's Qawliya population to seek autonomy and safety. Many of their villages have been destroyed or taken over by religious militias, and this has forced Qawliya to flee to the north. One of these destroyed villages was itself called
Shabaks
There are about 60,000–400,000 ShabaksShabak people
Shabak people are an ethnic and religious minority group living in northern Iraq, who live mainly in the villages of Ali Rash, Khazna, Yangidja, and Tallara in Sinjar district in the province of Ninawa in northern Iraq. Their language, Shabaki, is a Northwestern Iranian language very close to...
in Iraq. Despite having their own language and culture unique from other groups, Kurdish authorities have attempted to Kurdify
Kurdification
Kurdification is a term used to describe a cultural change in which something ethnically non-Kurdish is made to become Kurdish, usually in contexts of post-Saddam Iraq, in particular in relation to Assyrian Christians, Shabaks and Iraqi Turkmen.- See also :...
the Shabaks by occupying Shabak villages and referring to them as "Kurdish Shabaks". In 2005, two Assyrians were killed and four Shabaks were wounded by the KDP during a demonstration organized by the Democratic Shabak Coalition, a group which wants separate representation for the Shabak community.
Gays
On February 5, 2005 the IRIN issued a reported titled "Iraq: Male homosexuality still a taboo." The article stated, among other things that honor killings by Iraqis against a gay family member are common and given some legal protection. The article also stated that the 2001 amendment to the criminal code stipulating the death penalty for homosexuality "has not been changed", even through Paul Bremer clearly ordered the criminal code to go back to its original 1969 edition.CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
reports that gay Iraqis continue to be subjected to threats, rape, kidnapping and murder based on their sexual orientation.
Women
As many as 133 women were killed in the city of BasraBasra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
alone in 2006—79 for violation of "Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic teachings" and 47 for honour killings, according to IRIN, the news branch of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Amnesty International claims honour killings are also conducted by Shia militias
Private militias in Iraq
Private militias in Iraq include those known from modern history such as the Mahdi Army, Al-Qaeda and Badr Organization as well as some that have emerged in the post-Saddam period such as the Facilities Protection Service...
upon politically active women and those who did not follow a strict dress code, as well as women who are perceived as human rights defenders. The attacks on the women have intensified since British forces withdrew to their base in September 2007. Iraqi security forces
Iraqi security forces
Iraqi security forces is a U.S. Department of Defense term for all security forces of the Federal government of Iraq. They consist of the following organizations:*Ministry of Defence **Iraqi Armed Forces:*** Iraqi Army*** Iraqi Air Force...
are heavily infiltrated by militias.
In Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah
Sulaymaniyah is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq. It is the capital of Sulaymaniyah Governorate. Sulaymaniyah is surrounded by the Azmar Range, Goizja Range and the Qaiwan Range in the north east, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluje Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with...
, there were 400 cases of the burning
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
of women in 2006. In Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
, at least 255 women had been killed in just the first six months of 2007, three-quarters of them by burning. Beheadings, stoning
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
(see stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad
Stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad
-Asylum and return:Some news agencies reported that Aswad was being sheltered by a Yazidi tribal leader in Bashika in fear of her life until her family persuaded her that she had been forgiven and could return home. Other reports indicate that she was instead given asylum by a local Muslim Sheikh...
), rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
s, abduction, beatings, suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
s through self-immolation, genital mutilation
Genital mutilation
Genital mutilation can refer to:*Clitoridectomy*Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision*Genital modification and mutilation*Infibulation...
, trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
and child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
masquerading as marriage of girls as young as nine are all on the increase.
Many of the Iraqi women fleeing the Iraq war are turning to prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
to feed their children. An estimated 50,000 prostitutes, some as young as 13, are among the 1.2 million Iraqis who fled to Syria.
Refugee settlement beyond the Middle East
In early February 2007 the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
developed a plan to settle several thousand refugees in the United States.
In an initial step, refugees would apply for applicant status. The UN aims to register 135,000 to 200,000 to determine which people had fled persecution and would thus qualify for refugee status.
The US aims to settle at least 5,000 of this group in the US by the end of 2007. Since the 2003 invasion, the US has settled 466 Iraqi refugees. The first group of anticipated refugees are presently in Turkey, and had fled during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Subsequently, refugees would be accepted from Syria, and then from Jordan. Kristele Younes of Refugees International
Refugees International
Refugees International is a humanitarian organization supporting refugees and stateless people. It publishes annual reports, as well as approximately twenty-five field reports throughout the year on refugee issues, as well as comments on international aid issues around the world...
supported these moves towards resettlement, but she said that "the numbers remain low compared to what the needs are.”
A July 22, 2007 article notes that in the past nine months only 133 of the planned 7000 Iraqi
refugees were allowed into the United States.
Of the refugees' status, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Massachusetts) said, “We can’t solve the problem alone, but we obviously bear a heavy responsibility for the crisis.”
According to Washington-based Refugees International the U.S. has admitted fewer than 800 Iraqi refugees since the invasion, Sweden had accepted 18,000 and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
had resettled almost 6,000. More than 2 million refugees have arrived in the U.S. since 1980, including about 1 million from Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, while Australia and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
accepted more than 250,000 Vietnamese refugees
Boat people
Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...
. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants were granted legal residence in the United States.
Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, known for liberal asylum policies, has seen a surge of refugees from war-torn Iraq in the last year. Sweden currently accepts more than half of all asylum applications from Iraqis in Europe. In 2006, more than 9,000 Iraqis fled their country and came to Sweden seeking shelter, a four times increase over 2005. Sweden's immigration authority expects up to 40,000 Iraqis seeking asylum in 2007. An estimated 79,200 Iraqis call Sweden their home. Many Iraqis fled to Sweden during the 90's as well. Current refugees like Sweden because many of their relatives are there and because of the generous refugee policies.
The need for aid and essential services
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in February 2007 appealed for $60 million to assist displaced Iraqis.
At the end of July 2007 the NGO Coordinating Committee in Iraq (NCCI) and Oxfam International issued a report, Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq, that said that one-third of the populace was in need of aid. (The NCCI is an alliance of approximately 80 international NGOs and 200 Iraqi NGOs, formed in Baghdad in 2003.) The report, based on survey research of the nation's civilian population, reports that 70 percent of the population lacks proper access to water supplies. Only 20 percent of the population has proper sanitation. Almost 30 percent of children experience malnutrition. About 92 percent of children experience problems learning. These figures represent sharp increases since 2003.
The brain drain issue
Iraq’s pervasive violence, a deteriorating economy, and rampant corruption have fueled a middle-class brain drainBrain drain
Human capital flight, more commonly referred to as "brain drain", is the large-scale emigration of a large group of individuals with technical skills or knowledge. The reasons usually include two aspects which respectively come from countries and individuals...
that was already underway since 1980 with the Iran-Iraq War
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
, followed by the 1991 Gulf War, brutal Ba'ath Party party policies, and more than a decade of sanctions. In regards to the economy, high inflation and high unemployment rates are the major factors contributing to the unstable economic situation today. Moreover, while corruption was widespread during Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's rule, the system of corruption and patronage continued after the 2003 invasion.
With the flight of well-educated professionals, particularly academics and doctors, Iraq’s healthcare and education systems crumbled, increasing the incentive for remaining professionals to follow suit and flee. Academics and doctors were particularly targeted for kidnapping or killing after they lost their jobs for having any association with the Ba'ath Party, many of which had little to no ideological connection to the Ba'ath Party regime. Some kidnappings were attributed to sectarian strife, but others were for financial reasons since the families of professionals could pay higher ransom. By the mid-2006, there was an average of 30 kidnappings daily in Baghdad and by April 2008, BRussells Tribunal website reported that 353 academics had been murdered, most of whom held PhDs. In regard to doctors, the Iraqi Red Crescent reports that out of 34,000 doctors in 2003, 50% had left by 2007 and among the specialists, 70% had fled Iraq.
The policy of De-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification refers to a Coalition Provisional Authority policy outlined in CPA Order 1 which entered into force on 16 May 2003. The policy’s goal was to remove the Ba'ath Party's influence in the new Iraqi political system...
and the suspicion that Iraqi academics have connections to the old regime is part of what is preventing the return of the middle class. Moreover, the eruption of sectarianism increased the intrusion of religious and Shi’a militias in the academic field and impeded academics from freely expressing secular or opposing opinions. It is important to note, however, that the quality of Iraq’s higher education institutions began deteriorating in the 1990s when sanctions prevented research journals from entering Iraq, researchers from attending conferences, etc., which resulted in Iraq’s isolation from the international academic community.
According to research published by the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, the longer a skilled professional remains abroad, the less likely they will return even when the political and economic situation improves. A sustained brain drain could result in dire consequences for Iraq’s future, and an entirely new generation will have to be educated and trained to restore human capital, a critical component for long-term development. Moreover, the middle class in many societies plays a crucial role in the democratization process, and the brain drain could make Iraq more susceptible to authoritarian rule and all the more dependent on the US and the international community for institutional and economic structures.
Some argue that Iraqi human resources can be replenished by investing in training and education for the new generation, removing any vestiges of De-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification
De-Ba'athification refers to a Coalition Provisional Authority policy outlined in CPA Order 1 which entered into force on 16 May 2003. The policy’s goal was to remove the Ba'ath Party's influence in the new Iraqi political system...
policies, and providing strong incentives for the return of exiled Iraqi professionals. Many experts agree that the cessation of violence and the establishment of property rights or compensation for lost homes are also needed to facilitate return. According to the Economic and Social Council Commission on Human Rights:
The reintegration of exiled Iraqis could facilitate a brighter future for Iraq while serving the interests of host countries like Syria and Jordan, who do not wish to settle Iraqi refugees permanently, and are creating brain waste by barring Iraqi refugees from contributing to society with suitable employment.
International conferences on Iraqi refugee crisis
- On April 17, 2007 an international conference on the Iraqi refugee crisis began in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland. Attendees included Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
representatives, U.S. Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representatives and members of 60 other Non-Governmental Organizations. - The World Health OrganizationWorld Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
began a two day conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 29, 2007. The conference would address the health requirements of the more than two million refugees from Iraq. Aside from the UHO, participants in the conference included the International Committee of the Red CrossInternational Committee of the Red CrossThe International Committee of the Red Cross is a private humanitarian institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. States parties to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, have given the ICRC a mandate to protect the victims of international and...
, the Red Crescent, and various UN agencies.
See also
- Iraqi diasporaIraqi diasporaThe Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as emigrants or refugees, and is now one of the largest in modern times, being described by the UN as a "humanitarian crisis" largely due to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq....
- Arab diasporaArab diasporaArab diaspora refers to Arab immigrants, and their descendants who, voluntarily or as refugees, emigrated from their native lands and now reside in non-Arab countries, primarily in Latin America, and Europe, as well as North America and South Asia, parts of Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and West...
- Asylum in the United StatesAsylum in the United StatesThe United States honors the right of asylum of individuals as specified by international and federal law. A specified number of legally defined refugees, who apply for asylum either overseas or after arriving in the U.S., are admitted annually. Refugees compose about one-tenth of the total...
- Human Rights in the Middle EastHuman Rights in the Middle EastHuman rights in the Middle East are mostly covered in individual articles, listed below. -United States and European points of view on political rights:...
- Human rights in IraqHuman rights in IraqThe human rights situation in Iraq is addressed in the following articles:*Human rights in pre-Saddam Iraq *Human rights in Saddam Hussein's Iraq *Human rights in post-invasion Iraq , post Saddam Hussein....
- Human rights in post-Saddam Hussein IraqHuman rights in post-Saddam Hussein IraqHuman rights in post-invasion Iraq have been the subject of concerns and controversies since the 2003 invasion. Concerns have been expressed about conduct by insurgents, the U.S.-led coalition forces and the Iraqi government. The U.S...
- Minority politics in IraqMinority politics in IraqMinorities in Iraq include various ethnic and religious groups. The Kurds , Assyrians , and Iraqi Turkmen represent the three largest non-Arab minorities in the country. Other smaller ethnic groups include Armenians, Roma, Shabak, Yezidi, Mandeans, Mhallami, Circassians and Persians...
- SectarianismSectarianismSectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
- Civil war in Iraq
- Ethnic cleansingEthnic cleansingEthnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
- Religious warReligious warA religious war; Latin: bellum sacrum; is a war caused by, or justified by, religious differences. It can involve one state with an established religion against another state with a different religion or a different sect within the same religion, or a religiously motivated group attempting to...
External links
- http://www.ncciraq.org
- Iraq Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit Reports, Maps and Assessments of Iraq from the UN Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit
- The Baltimore Sun: The Iraqi Exodus
- Photo Gallery: Iraqi Refugees in Limbo
- Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis?, Updated August 15, 2008 Congressional Research Service.
- Iraqi Refugees: Seeking Stability in Syria and Jordan
- Iraq: The World's Fastest Growing Refugee Crisis
- Uneasy Havens Await Those who Flee Iraq
- U.N.: Iraqi civilian death toll reaches new monthly high
- Palestinians in Iraq Pay the Cost of Being 'Saddam's People'
- UN: Palestinians in Iraq threatened
- Forced Migration Review special July 2007 issue on Iraq available in Arabic and English
- 106 page Human Rights Watch November 2006 report on the refugee crisis
- November 30, 2006 Human Rights Watch statement on the West's silence on the refugee crisis
- January 19, 2007 Human Rights Tribune on the refugee crisis
- January 22, 2007 BBC report on the refugee crisis
- Iraqi children soldier on
- Internal Displacement Monitoring Centres June 30 2007 report on displaced people in Iraq
- Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre page of 22 maps of internal and external displacement of people in Iraq
- May 13, 2007 New York Times Magazine article on "The Flight from Iraq"
- Refugees International July 27, 2007 report and pdf report on the refugee crisis and the UN response
- July 30, 2007 NNCI and Oxfam International report on resource deficiencies in the civilian population
- August 19, 2008 PBS "Wide Angle": "Iraqi Exodus"
- ODI HPG Policy Brief: Humanitarian Action in Iraq
- PBS documentary on the Iraqi refugee crisis
- JO Magazine's ongoing coverage of the Iraqi refugee crisis in Jordan, plus links and other resources.