War's other casualties!
Earl J. Prignitz
January 19, 2007
With all the lament over the number of our troops who have lost their lives, plus the many thousands of additional men and women who have lost limbs and otherwise become incapacitated, plus the billions of dollars of debt that we have piled up for our grandchildren, we take our minds off of another aspect of this war that must also be addressed. Our occupation of Iraq has generated one of the largest refugee crises in many decades. This is a high crime that we are guilty of and we must not ignore it.
Reports from Refugees International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) document in terrifying detail the desperate plight of Iraqis forced to flee their homes. Close to two million Iraqis have already fled the country, and the rate of the exodus -- currently at as many as 100,000 a month -- shows every sign of increasing. That, dear friends, is beyond our comprehension.
And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Another 1.7 million Iraqis have been driven by sectarian violence to leave their homes in integrated areas to live in an ethnic community inside Iraq. This internally displaced population is expanding by 50,000 each month, and the UNHCR predicts it could reach 2.7 million people by the end of 2007. Can you even in the wildest stretch of your imagination fathom the plight of these human beings, who are made in the image of God just as we are?
The Refugees who are still living in Iraq exist in terrible squalor. They endure urban tent cities within their ethnic communities, squat in abandoned buildings or huddle at Iraq's borders in the hopes of escaping to safety. According to the World Food Program, the refugees account for a disproportionate part of the 9 percent of Iraqis who are outright malnourished.
Neighboring countries are being overwhelmed by the massive influx of Iraqi refugees. Syria and Jordan are rapidly becoming overwhelmed by the numbers of Iraqis seeking refuge in their urban centers. Jordan, Lebanon and Syria consider Iraqis as “guests” rather than refugees fleeing violence. None of these countries allows Iraqis to work. Although Syria is maintaining its “open door policy” in the name of pan-Arabism, it has begun imposing restrictions on Iraqi refugees, such as charges for healthcare that used to be free. In Jordan, Iraqis have to pay for the most basic services, and live in constant fear of deportation. The Jordanian government, concerned about the risk of instability, has shut its border to young men, forcing families to separate. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Iraqis in Jordan to renew their visas to be able to remain in the country.
It is the US occupation that is directly responsible for creating this exodus from Iraq. US sanctions, war and occupation have destroyed the Iraqi economy, driving the vast majority of the population into desperate poverty. Estimates of unemployment run as high as 70 percent, 5 million Iraqis live under the poverty line and 31 percent are "food insecure."
As Refugees International documents, "Lack of resources further keeps UNHCR from being able to monitor further influxes and assist the most vulnerable. With bare-bones teams in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, UNHCR cannot even register incoming refugees at border crossings."
Kenneth Bacon, president of Refugees International, said Iraq represents the "fastest-growing humanitarian crisis in the world. The United States and its allies sparked the current chaos in Iraq, but they are doing little to ease the humanitarian crisis."
To try to improve the dire situation, the UN launched a fund drive to raise $60 million to aid the 200,000 most vulnerable refugees. But this is only a drop in the ocean of Iraqis fleeing the occupation and civil war.
Iraq's burgeoning refugee crisis must be added to the long list of war crimes that the US is committing with its occupation
Reports from Refugees International, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) document in terrifying detail the desperate plight of Iraqis forced to flee their homes. Close to two million Iraqis have already fled the country, and the rate of the exodus -- currently at as many as 100,000 a month -- shows every sign of increasing. That, dear friends, is beyond our comprehension.
And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Another 1.7 million Iraqis have been driven by sectarian violence to leave their homes in integrated areas to live in an ethnic community inside Iraq. This internally displaced population is expanding by 50,000 each month, and the UNHCR predicts it could reach 2.7 million people by the end of 2007. Can you even in the wildest stretch of your imagination fathom the plight of these human beings, who are made in the image of God just as we are?
The Refugees who are still living in Iraq exist in terrible squalor. They endure urban tent cities within their ethnic communities, squat in abandoned buildings or huddle at Iraq's borders in the hopes of escaping to safety. According to the World Food Program, the refugees account for a disproportionate part of the 9 percent of Iraqis who are outright malnourished.
Neighboring countries are being overwhelmed by the massive influx of Iraqi refugees. Syria and Jordan are rapidly becoming overwhelmed by the numbers of Iraqis seeking refuge in their urban centers. Jordan, Lebanon and Syria consider Iraqis as “guests” rather than refugees fleeing violence. None of these countries allows Iraqis to work. Although Syria is maintaining its “open door policy” in the name of pan-Arabism, it has begun imposing restrictions on Iraqi refugees, such as charges for healthcare that used to be free. In Jordan, Iraqis have to pay for the most basic services, and live in constant fear of deportation. The Jordanian government, concerned about the risk of instability, has shut its border to young men, forcing families to separate. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Iraqis in Jordan to renew their visas to be able to remain in the country.
It is the US occupation that is directly responsible for creating this exodus from Iraq. US sanctions, war and occupation have destroyed the Iraqi economy, driving the vast majority of the population into desperate poverty. Estimates of unemployment run as high as 70 percent, 5 million Iraqis live under the poverty line and 31 percent are "food insecure."
As Refugees International documents, "Lack of resources further keeps UNHCR from being able to monitor further influxes and assist the most vulnerable. With bare-bones teams in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, UNHCR cannot even register incoming refugees at border crossings."
Kenneth Bacon, president of Refugees International, said Iraq represents the "fastest-growing humanitarian crisis in the world. The United States and its allies sparked the current chaos in Iraq, but they are doing little to ease the humanitarian crisis."
To try to improve the dire situation, the UN launched a fund drive to raise $60 million to aid the 200,000 most vulnerable refugees. But this is only a drop in the ocean of Iraqis fleeing the occupation and civil war.
Iraq's burgeoning refugee crisis must be added to the long list of war crimes that the US is committing with its occupation
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