FMR Special Issue - Iraq's displacement crisis: the search for solutions
One
in six Iraqis is displaced. After a conflict which has now lasted
as long as the First World War over two million Iraqis are in
exile and a further two million are internally displaced. Most
refugees are in Syria and Jordan - which hosts the largest number
of refugees per capita of any country on earth. The vast majority
survive with little or no assistance from the international community.
Eight million Iraqis are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Insecurity
prevents a robust response to humanitarian needs. The UN’s
dependence on Coalition military forces means it is no longer
perceived by the Iraqi people as neutral. The Government of Iraq
lacks capacity to respond to the crisis and inflexible funding
mechanisms deny adequate support for agencies which are better
able to assist vulnerable communities.
A special
issue of FMR – published in English and in Arabic -
assesses the scale of the displacement and highlights the inadequacy
of current responses. Twenty-six articles – from the UN,
the governments of Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Sweden, the Red Cross,
the Iraqi Red Crescent, Human Rights Watch and non-governmental
agencies – offer suggestions to prevent a further escalation
of the humanitarian crisis and to establish an eventual framework
for the durable return of displaced Iraqis.
The issue
was launched in the House of Commons, London on 19th June at
an event hosted by the British-Iraq All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Among those making presentations was Erika Feller, Assistant
UNHCR High Commissioner for Protection.
The FMR Editors
are grateful for financial support provided by the Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Agency for Development
and Cooperation, the International Organization for Migration
(IOM), Islamic Relief and the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal
Displacement.
FMR
would appreciate help to maximise impact.
If you would like to receive a hard copy for your organisation, or multiple copies
for distribution to partners and policy- and decision-makers, please contact
the Editors. We will need your full postal address and indication of how
many copies in English and/or Arabic you require.
We encourage
you to circulate or reproduce any articles in its entirety but
please cite www.fmreview.org/iraq.htm
Forced Migration
Online has a browse
page with a selection of web-based resources focusing on Iraq.
