Friday, 29th January 2010
The refugee crisis in Iraq & the migration of Iraqi refugees to other countries since 2003
Introduction
This report is in part based on desk-research and in part on a series of discussions with Jordanian Government Ministers, leading Iraqi politicians, Middle East Ambassadors and key experts in Brussels and the Middle East. It has been prepared as a factual analysis of the current refugee crisis in the Middle East, directly attributable to the on-going unrest in Iraq.
As in every war, one of the most tragic consequences of the assault on Iraq in 2003 by the coalition forces led by the U.S. was the growth of the homelessness phenomenon in this country and the unprecedented increase of Iraqi refugees to other countries, numbering millions. Of course, victims of this dreadful phenomenon were not limited to those losing their homes during the month long bombing campaign of the war, but the extent of the disaster was amplified even further by the persistence of military operations, be it by U.S., Iraqi government, or armed paramilitary forces. The cruel ethnic violence that continues to this day and has been inflamed by the Iranian regime and its malicious Qods (Jerusalem) force, has played a special role in the refugee crisis and has engulfed millions of Iraqis from all religious lines and ethnicities.
Although Iraq is composed of various races and religions, ethnic conflicts were unknown to Iraq's history before the Gulf war. These races had always lived together in peace. Many tribes had Shiite and Sunni Moslems in them at the same time. Baghdad itself was a marked example of this peaceful coexistence. However, during the last seven years following the war, the Iranian regime instigated ethnic violence in the country to render Iraq unstable and insecure as a means to expand its influence and hegemony in Iraq. The Iranian regime formed and expanded paramilitary forces affiliated with it together with terrorist and criminal groups to achieve this end. The ethnic war was especially inflamed during 2006 and 2007. The level of violence exercised was unprecedented in the history of Iraq.
On February 22nd., 2006, while negotiations for a national conciliatory government were under way and there was a hope that the role of the Iranian regime in the Iraqi government would dwindle and its influence would be removed, in utter disbelief, the Iraqi people were witness to the bombing of sacred shrines in Samara. This development led to a bloody ethnic war where in just two days, 168 mosques were hit. Dozens of clerics were killed, wounded or abducted. Cities and the whole country were segregated quickly into Shiite and Sunni regions, innocent citizens were killed or tortured just because they belonged to one or other branch of Islam, thousands of homes were bombed or set on fire, millions of people were forced to leave their homes and became internal migrants or were forced to take refuge in other countries.
Although with receding ethnic violence and a tentative return of security, refugees and immigrants began to return to their homes and neighbourhoods, this crisis continues to cause concern and is still a long way from its final resolution. According to reports by the UNHCR, the number of Iraqi migrants and refugees who had to leave their homes and move to safer places in Iraq or in other countries amounts to 4,700,000. A report by Amnesty International entitled, “The crisis of Iraqi refugees: the gap between the word of authorities and the reality”, explains that the international community has been slow to confront the roots of this crisis. Jordan and Syria have sheltered the greatest number of Iraqi refugees, regarding them as “our brothers in distress”. In Jordan, the government provides education and health care to an estimated 750,000 Iraqi refugees, causing a considerable strain on their very limited budget, although they have received some help from the international community.
The situation is Jordan is especially significant. In international legal terms there are only 36,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan, as these are the numbers that have officially registered as refugees. However the remaining Iraqi's in Jordan, whose numbers are between 500,000 and 700,000 have not chosen to register as refugees as the term denotes someone who is displaced from their homeland on a temporary basis. Many of these have lived in Jordan for many years already. Some of these may opt to stay permanently. However, it is widely held that if the conditions are right, many will wish to return to Iraq. As a result, Jordanians refer to these unregistered Iraqis as their guest rather than refugees. Under the internationally defined term of "refugee" that are indeed not refugees, but Iraqis temporarily living outside of their homeland.
Basic numbers and figures on the social condition in Iraq
According to a 2008 report by the central statistics and census bureau of Iraq’s Ministry of Planning, Iraq's population in 2007 amounted to 30 million. Some useful statistics given in this report are as follows:
Gender composition: 14.9 million male and 14.7 million female.
Religion composition: Shiite 61%, Sunni Arab 15%, Sunni Kurd and Turcoman 19%, Christian 3%, and the remaining 2% are from minority religions.
Ethnic composition: Arab 75%, Kurd 15%, Turcoman 6.5%, Christian 3%, the rest are from other ethnicities.
Diversity of population: Kurds, Turcomans and Christians are mostly in the Northern provinces. Sunni Arabs are mostly in four central provinces of al-Inbar, Salaheddin, Ninawa, and Diyala. The Shiites are found in the nine Southern provinces. However, Iraq is home to all ethnicities and religions.
The population living in advanced and modern regions is close to 19.5 million - i.e. 67% of the population.
Those in villages are around 9.9 million or 33% of the population.
Baghdad itself is home to 7.5 million or 28% of the population.
Those under 15 years of age are 12.7 million or 43% of the population.
The population under 40 years is 16 million or 54%.
The elderly with 65 years of age and older are 3.6 million or 8.5% of the population.
Primary schools total 12,140 with 500,000 students.
Intermediary schools number 4,000 with 150,000 students.
Professional schools number 276 with 59,000 students.
The yearly enrollment for universities amounts to 99,700 students.
Statistics on the victims of violence in Iraq
According to al-Jazeera television network, in January 2008, the victims of violence in Iraq were as follows:
According to investigations by the British delegation of Opinion Research Business (ORB), which was carried out with the aid of the Iraqi Independent Institute for Administration and Research of Civil Assembly, there had been 1.2 million deaths in Iraq until September 2007.
However, according to reports by the Iraqi government, there were only 56,000 deaths until the end of 2007 (40,000 until the end of 2006 and 16,000 during 2007).
In 2008, Iraq's Human Rights Ministry declared that during the years 2005-2007, 340 academics and jurists, 197 journalists, and 2334 women have died due to violence in Iraq. The statistics of this ministry does not include victims of explosions.
Who is responsible:
Mrs Vojdan Mikhaeel, Iraq's Minister of Human Rights, claims that migration is due to the deterioration of security conditions. Sunnis are forcibly relocated from Shiite neighborhoods and vice versa. This is a well planned act that the Interior Minister can offer details on.
Javad Boulani, Iraq's Minister of the Interior says that terrorism is the main cause of migration and it has a political side to it too. Where the terrorist elements or the militias exert pressure on scientists, professionals, or families, the goal is to instigate an atmosphere of insecurity and instability. (al-Arabiya TV, February 9, 2007)
Parliamentarian Mithal al-Alousi, leader of al-Ommah Party has said “This case is clear. Those who force Iraqis out of their homes operate outside the law and humanitarian values and Iraqi identity. Those who carry this out are advancing an anti-Iraqi programme. Persons who do this are carrying out the plans of Tehran and Damascus. They operate according to the interest of investments in foreign banks. This is a deception and demagoguery. The person that depicts himself as a Sunni supporter, Sunnis distance themselves from him; and a person who cries Shiite slogans, Shiites distance themselves from him. A person who shouts for religion, religious people do not side with him. These are murderers. A person who acts outside of law and breaks the law, should be dealt with according to the law.” (al-Arabiya TV, December 17, 2006)
Statistics on Iraqi migrants and refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of Iraqis who migrated after the occupation of this country and its sectarian violence at 4.4 million, of which 2.2 million migrated into neighbouring countries of Syria, Jordan and Egypt. The other 2.2 million migrated inside Iraq. These statistics tell us that one out of every eight Iraqi is homeless and many of them live in severe poverty. Details on these immigrants, provided by the UNHCR in 2006, who now naturally number even higher, are as follows:
1. Migration inside Iraq and the homeless
There are 2.2 million homeless inside Iraq; 800,000 from northern, 800,000 from southern, and 600,000 from central provinces
According to figures published by UNAMI, following the bombing of holy shrines in Samara, over 730,000 Iraqis fled their homes due to religious violence. This means that each month 50,000 Iraqis became homeless. This figure is in addition to the 1.2 million who had left their homes prior to the bombings. The report also says that of the 120,000 refugees in Baghdad, many later migrated to more secure locations (al-Jazeera TV, 25 April 2007)
On behalf of UNHCR the director of UNAMI warned that 100,000 of those forced out of their homes due to violence inside Iraq are facing mounting hardship. Of 18 provinces, 11 were reluctant to accept refugees due to their existing shortages. There have been cases where food and educational assistance has been prevented from reaching these refugees (al-Jazeera TV, 10 October 2007).
In 2006, each week, on average 9,000 Iraqis fled their homes. One third of craftsmen left the country; universities and hospitals lost 80% of their personnel.
In Diyala province alone, 20,000 families were forced to migrate and seventy mosques and shrines were destroyed.
The UNHCR reported that around 10,000 Christians residing in Mosul left the city due to threats and killings targeting them. The UNHCR confirmed that the migrants had gone to areas around Mosul and to the cities of Dahouk and Erbil (al-Jazeera TV, 17 October 2008).
The wave of migration inside Iraq continues. The Ministry of Immigration has reported that 100,000 families migrated after the bombing of the holy shrines in Samara in February 2006. 25,000 families migrated to Baghdad and a further 13,000 to Kut, 9,000 went to Karbala and over 6,000 to Najaf, 5,000 to Basra, 6,000 to al-Amarah, less than 6,000 to Nasseriyah, over 7,000 to Hillah, 5,000 to Diwaniyah. Around 6,500 families left al-Anbar province and a further 6,000 families left Salaheddin. Around 3,000 Arab families left Mosul for Dahouk in northern Iraq (al-Arabiya TV, 20 February 2007).
Kurdish parliamentarian Raouf Othman from the Kurdish list said that “Over 3,773 families have taken refuge in Sulaymaniyah and its vicinity. Among them 5,400 students can be seen from different levels including doctors and graduates. Of these, 18% are Shiites and 79% are Sunni. These statistics are just for Sulaymaniyah province. Refugees in Erbil and Dahouk top these figures” (al-Iraqiya TV, 7 October 2007)
Religious minorities: according to figures presented by the welfare committee of Ashurians, 700 Kaldanian, Ashurian and Soriyani families have fled to Mesopotamia from Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Ramadi, Diwaniyah, Kut, Kirkuk and Salaheddin. A marked rise in the number of Christian families that migrate from Baghdad, Mosul and other cities that continue to be the scene of violence, is expected. Reports by the UN state that 3,500 Christian families have fled various regions of Iraq for Kurdistan. In addition, a further 1,500 Christian families left Iraq. The average number of persons in a family is taken to be four.
A report on refugee camps inside Iraq: another report by the UN depicts a miserable condition for 4 million Iraqis who fled their homes due to violence and now live in poor sanitary and humanitarian conditions. The number of refugee camps around the capital and some southern provinces is growing. The mortality rate amongst camp residents rises with the outbreak of disease and increased violence. Many of these camps lack potable water and sanitary services. Insecurity and joblessness are high. Children do not attend school and those living in tents get no assistance from the government. Humanitarian assistance reaches them only as an act of charity. The authorities in some of the provinces impose harsh laws on the refugees and close their borders to them. Although 2.3 million are internal refugees, many live in tents… (al-Jazeera TV, 1 July 2007).
Antonio Guterres, head of the UNHCR, when asked what the UNHCR can offer to over two million internal refugees in Iraq, stated, “There is a difference between refugees who leave a country and the internal refugees. According to the 1951 Convention and the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, our responsibility lies with the refugees. Immigrants inside Iraq are not part of our responsibility. Their responsibility lies with the government. However, we do assist in this endeavor… currently we are pinched and quite limited inside Iraq. There are many limitations to our activities and movement. That is why I have decided that we should improve our presence in Iraq. Our representative to Iraq is currently stationed in Amman and we made a decision that our new representative would be stationed in Baghdad once we get the approval of the Iraqi government. Then we shall up our international presence in Baghdad and I hope that with a change in security conditions, our movements inside Iraq would allow us to offer our assistance to the internal migrants. Currently, we have an important cooperation with Iraq's Red Crescent. Now, it is the Iraqi Red Crescent that helps the internal refugees. However, the government can do a lot and can distribute the commonwealth amongst the people. This is their natural right… there are many mechanisms to help the people to return to their homes.” (al-Jazeera TV, 21 March 2008)
2. Iraqi refugees in foreign countries
According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iraq holds first place globally in terms of refugees and migrants.
The number of Iraqi refugees in other countries is as follows:
2.5 million refugees in Iraq’s neighboring countries include 1.2 million to 1.4 million refugees in Syria, 750,000 refugees in Jordan, 200,000 in the Gulf region, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon, and 10,000 in Turkey.
There are in excess of 200,000 refugees in European countries which include 2,100 refugees in Germany, 1,400 in Greece, and 1,000 in Norway.
United Nations report on aid for refugees: Since the beginning of the war in 2003 about 15% of Iraqis migrated from the provinces to seek refuge in safer areas. Of Iraqi child refugees in Syria, 76% do not attend school. After the wave of Palestinian evacuees in 1948, Iraqis now form the biggest accumulation of immigrants in the Middle East. (Al-Jazeera TV July 14, 2007)
Washington, Reuters 22.06.2009 “Investigations by Legal Group show that thousands of Iraqi refugees in the U.S. are living in poverty and are facing many hardships because of the recession. The U.S. Migration Delegation emphasizes that more than 19,000 Iraqis took refuge in the U.S. in 2007. It should be remembered that the 2003 war led by the U.S. against Iraq left more than 4 million Iraqis homeless. President Obama previously committed to provide more assistance to the countries which accept Iraqi refugees.”
The White House announced that U.S. President Barack Obama has created two new posts to handle aid to millions of Iraqi immigrants and refugees. Robert Gibbs the White House spokesman said that Samantha Power, who works in the U.S. National Security Council, has been assigned as coordinator of Washington’s governmental assistance to Iraqi refugees. On the other hand, Marcus Serila, a senior diplomat who has come to Baghdad, will be in charge of coordination for distribution of humanitarian aid among Iraqi refugees. (Al-Sharqiya TV, Aug, 15, 2009)
The U.S. government opened its first permanent office in Baghdad in order to deal with Iraqi requests for taking refuge in the U.S. This office started its first series of interviews on May 10th. 2009. This was done in response to criticism against the U.S. government for not assisting the Iraqis whose lives were endangered by working with American organisations in Iraq. James Pawley, senior coordinator of the U.S. State Department in Refugee Affairs said that the U.S. government has not been able to achieve its goal to welcome 12,000 Iraqi refugees before the end of this year but will try to achieve the goal. (Alhurra TV June 4, 2008)
On the occasion of Refugees International Day, Amnesty International asked the global community and especially the countries who participated in the 2003 war alongside the U.S., to take measures to relieve the suffering of refugees who have been made homeless due to the war and its consequences. Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy said: “Many Iraqi refugees are facing many difficulties to survive. They are deprived of the right to work and are not able to pay the rents for their houses and to provide the primary needs of food or medical expenses for themselves or their families.”
A report by Amnesty International titled as “Crisis of Iraqi refugees - officials’ words and the reality” says that the international community is still slow in dealing with the roots and basis of this crisis. Jordan and Syria have the biggest number of Iraqi refugees but the international community has not answered their needs.
UNHCR held a two-day international conference in Geneva regarding Iraqi refugees. Representatives from about 60 countries participated. In the opening session of the conference, Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, asked Iraq’s neighboring countries to open their borders to Iraqi refugees. Ban Ki-moon called on other countries participating in the Geneva conference to accept this responsibility. (Alhurra TV April 17, 2007)
On July 12th. 2009, UNHCR asked the international community for $123 million of aid for Iraqi refugees and said that the $66 million dollars received so far was not sufficient to assist 2.2 million Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan. There are also 2 million homeless Iraqis in Iraq.
Iraqi politicians hold the government of Iraq responsible for the suffering of the refugees. Former Trade Minister, Mohammad al-Jabouri said: “The refugees are not from one spectrum. Rather they are from all strata of Iraqi society. Only 2,500 of the 40,000 Iraqis who have asked the office of UNHCR in Amman, Jordan’s Capital, for asylum have been able to get other countries’ refugee cards.”
A field survey conducted by UNHCR on Iraqi refugees in Syria reveals that every refugee has suffered from at least one type of harassment. Just as one out of every five persons who have been interviewed has been a victim of torture and violence and is suffering from anxiety and psychological stress, which affects all aspects of their lives, causing family separation, violence at home, malnutrition, quitting education etc. In addition, World Vision investigations show that psychological stress is very common among all Iraqi refugees especially the children in Jordan.
French News Agency 29.05.2009: Jordanian Foreign Minister, Nasser Judah met with the Migration and Refugees Minister of Sweden, Tobias Bill Strum. They discussed international efforts to establish peace and stability in the Middle East. In the meeting, Bill Strum stressed that his country has so far allowed 200 Iraqi refugees residing in Jordan to settle in Sweden. He praised the Kingdom of Jordan for providing facilities for Iraqi refugees. Strum said that his visit to Jordan happened following his country’s decision to accept a further 900 Iraqi refugees from Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. He emphasized that based on the International Geneva Conventions and based on Swedish law, the Swedish government decided to accept those Iraqis who were seeking asylum in Sweden. Sweden’s Survey Central Office revealed in its annual report that in 2008 there were 109,446 Iraqis in Sweden while this number was 97,513 in 2007 and 49,000 in 2000.
Social disturbances: widows and children without guardians
United Nations: Out of every five Iraqis, one is a victim of violence and torture.
Based on a report by the Ministry of Women's Affairs in September 2008, the war and religious violence in Iraq has left 2,000,000 widows, the majority of whom are illiterate and because of their spouse's death, have little or no source of income. The Work and Social Services Committee in the city of Karbala has announced that there are 8,000 widows in that city alone and only 3,000 of them are receiving governmental aid of 150,000 Dinars - equivalent to $100 - per month for a family of six.
On 18th. April 2009, Ali Dabagh, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, announced that the number of orphans in Iraq is in excess of 2.5 million. This is while the international organization of UNICEF says that the number might be as high as 5 million. The families of these orphans may have been killed or many may have been arrested, so the children end up in orphanages. These orphans are lonely, with a lot of problems and an unknown future.
Iraq's Ministry of Work and Social Affairs has refused to accept media delegations from Arab and other foreign countries to investigate the orphan crisis arising from wars and violence in recent years in Iraq. Reports form these international organisations emphasize that ongoing violence has left hundreds of thousands of Iraqis out of education and they have become refugees either inside Iraq or have departed from Iraq. (Alhurra TV 10 March 2008)
The orphan problem is just a small part of Iraq's greater problems which remain to be solved. After the war a great number of international organisations came to Iraq, particularly UNICEF, because Iraqi children were facing great danger due to the increase in violence and lack of drinking water and high temperature during the summer, which caused the death of many.
Some newspaper reports in the New York Times and Guardian have stated that many Iraqi children have been sold by their families because of poverty, or they have been put up for adoption, traded for sexual abuse or even to forced to sell their organs.
Conclusions
The situation in Iraq with regard to refugees is, for a number of reasons, dire. It is clear that the insecurity prevalent in the country has resulted in the huge internal and external displacement that is outlined in this report. Many Iraqis fled the country following the systematic murder of hundreds of technocrats, army officers and pilots by the Iranian regime in previous years. Also many former government officials and senior Baath Party officers from the Saddam regime, fled from Iraq.
In order to encourage refugees to return to their homes the security situation in Iraq and internal governance must be improved substantially. In the past 12 months an improvement in the security situation has been noted, although the horrific bomb attacks in Iraq in late 2009 represented a severe setback. The current situation remains volatile and unpredictable.
There are still many terrorist attacks and with the Iranian (Qods) force roaming freely within Iraq, together with the infiltration of the Iraqi police and military by Iranian agents, there is a continual threat of terrorist activity and instability in many parts of the country.
Terrorism and the increasing influence of theocratic parties on the lives of Iraqi citizens are amongst the key influences for mass migration out of Iraq. It is clear that much of the on-going insurgency and acts of savage terrorism are directly or indirectly inspired by Tehran. Even Al Qaeda, which has a lot of fundamental religious differences with Iran, is working in coordination with Tehran, from whom they receive money and arms.
There is limited scope for aid organisations to help relieve the situation because they themselves have at times come under attack.
There is some hope of improvement with the coming elections on 7th March 2010. If these elections provide the return of a secular, nationalist Iraqi government, there is far more likelihood of calm being restored than if an Islamic, factional, religious government comes to power which is likely to be heavily influenced by the Iranian regime. The widespread availability of voting centres for expatriate Iraqis throughout the Middle East, as recently agreed under the "Election Law" is a welcomed development.
However, the recent attempt at expulsion of over 500 secular candidates for the Iraqi elections, including parliamentary faction leader Saleh al-Mutlak is a serious setback for the democratic process and could once again serve to alienate a large number of Sunni voters.
The Iraqis do not wish to see a fraudulent election process similar to that which marred the Presidential elections in Iran. Therefore, any interference by Tehran in the Iraqi election process will be most unwelcome.
In the absence of immediate significant security improvements more emphasis needs to be placed on the well-being of refugees in neighbouring countries. Jordan in particular has been especially welcoming to Iraqi refugees, officially referring to them as "guests," however with such a huge influx there are severe internal ramifications, especially with regard to the budget and internal racial and national tensions.
The international community therefore needs to provide more aid to these host countries This is vital not just for the well-being of the Iraqi refugees, but also for the stability of these neighbouring countries.
STRUAN STEVENSON MEP
Office ASP 12G306
European Parliament, Brussels
January 2010
