Talk draws attention to crisis

By: Elisabeth Ponsot

Posted: 4/9/08

Due in no small part to the slow response by the international community and the U.S. government to the veritable refugee crisis in Iraq, the situation has continued to worsen since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. According to the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration in 2007, one in five Iraqis have been displaced by the violence and social turmoil in Iraq since the war began.

The number of individuals who have either been displaced inside Iraq's borders or who have fled to neighboring countries is estimated to be as high as five million. While there is contention over the accuracy of the statistic, what is certain is that the individuals forced to flee have overwhelmed the resources and infrastructure of neighboring countries such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

In the 2007 fiscal budget, the Bush administration allocated $20 million to assist Iraqi persons and families displaced or made refugees by the war. However, critics contend that the funding falls short of the resources necessary to address the humanitarian crisis. Furthermore, the Bush administration has been condemned for allocating such a small portion of its funding to address the crisis in light of the $8 billion a month spent on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Beyond the commitment of resources, the Washington Post reports that the U.S. government has permitted only 466 Iraqis to come to America under refugee status since 2003. Though 7,000 immigration slots were allotted last year for Iraqi refugees to the United States, only 202 were filled. The State Department has cited security concerns as a major obstacle which prevents Iraqis from immigrating into the United States.

However, the countries neighboring Iraq have been unable to deal with the influx of Iraqis. As Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Ellen R. Saucerbrey told the [Washington Post], the situation has degenerated such that many refugees are "left with minimal resources and are living on the margins." Moreover, many displaced children are unable to attend school and do not have access to adequate health care.

Concerned by a lack of awareness for the refugee crisis both at home and abroad, Assistant Professor of History and George C. Wiswell Jr. Research Fellow Jason Opal began the Iraqi Refugee Awareness Movement on campus. The group is a mix of students, professors and outside contributors committed to increasing awareness about the humanitarian crisis in a depoliticized manner.

As part of its campaign to promote awareness, the Iraqi Refugee Awareness Movement hosted an event on April 3 entitled "The Quiet Catastrophe: Iraqi Refugees and Contemporary Politics." Speaking at the event was Jennifer Kemp, a representative from the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq, Jason Kurtzer, a congressional advocate for the organization Refugees international and Shirmila Cooray '09, a student at the College who worked with Iraqi refugees while studying abroad in Denmark this fall.

Opal began the lecture by expressing his discontent for the political response to the Iraqi refugee crisis on "both sides of the aisle" in Congress. He said, "The tendency is to disown the displaced, to brush aside their very existence as an unfortunate side effect of a remote and confusing war." He described his fear that conversation about the refugee crisis, much like talk of the continually degenerating situation within Iraq, has "fallen to the margins of public discussion."

Cooray, who volunteered for the Danish Red Cross last fall, worked with two men who had fled Iraq after the war began. "They shared the heartache and longing for friends and family they left behind," she said. Cooray noted that the experience of working with these two individuals gave her insight into what it must feel like to be a refugee. She described the U.S. government's treatment of Iraqi refugees as "atrocious," as even Iraqis who have worked in conjunction with American forces in Iraq at great personal risk have incredible difficulty attaining refugee status and placement within the United States.

As of late, policy-makers have begun to recognize this issue and have attempted to push for better funding of refugee programs. Specifically, some congressmen have called for an expedited process to ensure placement within the U.S. for Iraqis who cannot go back to Iraq as a result of their cooperation with Coalition forces. As Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, "We have a special obligation to keep faith with the Iraqis who have bravely worked for us, and have often paid a terrible price for it, by providing them with safe refuge in the U.S."

Students interested in helping promote awareness about the Iraqi refugee crisis or who wish to donate money to help refugees fleeing Iraq should consult the Refugees International webpage at: http://www.refugeesinternational.org/