IRAQI REFUGEE CRISIS: CALL FOR INCREASED CANADIAN RESPONSE
 

BACKGROUNDER
  • An estimated 2.2 million Iraqis are internally displaced within their own country.
  • A further 2.2 million Iraqis have fled the country as refugees.
  • 95% of Iraqi refugees are still in the Middle East.
  • There are 1.2 - 1.4 million Iraqi refugees in Syria and 500,000 - 750,000 in Jordan.
  • Few Iraqis are arriving as asylum seekers in Western countries: 19,800 from January to June 2007 in 36 Western countries, of which only 129 in Canada.
  • Iraqis inside and outside their country make up the biggest single group of displaced people worldwide.
  • Iraqis represent the largest urban refugee group UNHCR has ever assisted.
  • Approximately 60,000 Iraqis are forced to flee every month.
NEED FOR SUPPORT IN THE REGION
  • The vast majority of Iraqi refugees are in Syria and Jordan.
  • Most don’t have the right to work and are rapidly using up their savings.
  • Available housing is becoming overcrowded and prices are increasing prohibitively.
  • Access to healthcare is limited and often only available to those refugees who can pay.
  • A significant proportion of Iraqi refugees, including the children, have been exposed to violence and are suffering the physical and/or psychological consequences.
  • Many refugee children are not able to go to school.
  • Some children are being forced to work to help support their families. Women and children are being forced to engage in prostitution.
  • UNHCR has made a special appeal for US$123.6 million for the Iraq operation.  As of 20 September, UNHCR had received 75%.  ($2,155,172 from Canada).
  • There have also been interagency appeals for education and for urgent health needs.  Contributions to these appeals have yet to be received.
  • The arrival of so many Iraqi refugees has put severe pressure on the education systems, health services and infrastructure of the countries in the region, especially Syria and Jordan.
CLOSING OF BORDERS
  • Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have kept their borders closed to Iraqi refugees.
  • Jordan has restricted entry to limited numbers of Iraqis and may be preparing to impose new visa requirements.
  • Syria has until recently kept its borders open, but introduced new visa restrictions in September.  These were suspended during the month of Ramadan, but implemented in early October.  This has effectively closed the last escape route for Iraqis.
RESETTLEMENT TO CANADA
  • In response to requests by the UNHCR for increased resettlement, Canada agreed to accept a further 500 referrals of Iraqi refugees in 2007, in addition to the previous commitment of up to 900 Iraqis, for a total of 1,400 Iraqis. (The 500 places were taken from the targets for other regions).
  • By the end of June 2007, only 326 Iraqis had been resettled to Canada this year under both the government-assisted and the private sponsorship programs.
  • There are significant numbers of Iraqi Canadians, of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds, living in communities across Canada, who are deeply concerned about the situation of displaced Iraqis in general and specifically about family members in distress.
  • Many Canadians have demonstrated their eagerness to resettle Iraqi refugees to Canada through the private sponsorship program.
  • The Canadian government acknowledges that resettlement is important in relieving the pressure on neighbouring countries, but the numbers fall well below the need and Canada’s capacity to respond.
  • The numbers of Iraqis resettled are lower now than before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.  From 2000 to 2002, Canada resettled on average more than 1,000 Iraqi refugees a year.
  • Australia, with a much smaller population than Canada, has resettled many more Iraqi refugees.  From 2003 to 2005, Canada resettled less than one-third as many as Australia.
  • UNHCR encourages Canada to increase resettlement numbers of Iraqi refugees including by strategically using the private sponsorship program.
PROCESSING OF IRAQI REFUGEES FOR RESETTLEMENT
  • The refugees referred to Canada for resettlement have been women at risk, victims of severe violence or trauma or persons with medical needs.  These refugees should be resettled more quickly than has been the case to date, in order to respond to the protection needs of the refugees and alleviate the pressures on countries of first asylum.
  • Security checks have been a factor in lengthy processing times.  Canada has been urged by the UNHCR to expedite its security checks, which often take longer than for other resettlement countries.   
PALESTINIANS
  • Approximately 1,750 Palestinians are stranded in the Al Waleed and Al Tanf camps on the border between Iraq and Syria.
  • Conditions are extremely grim and the camps lack security.
  • According to the Canadian government: “Canada remains particularly concerned about the situation of Palestinians, in Baghdad and stranded in border regions. This group, although a comparatively small part of the larger refugee outflow, is especially at risk and should be allowed to seek asylum and access to international protection. We urge states to work together to find both temporary and durable solutions for them.”
  • Canada has resettled a small group of Palestinians displaced from Iraq in the past year but UNHCR continues to seek resettlement for the many more in need.
FORCED RETURNS
  • Some countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Greece, Poland, Lebanon, Jordan and the Czech Republic have forcibly returned Iraqis, directly or indirectly, to Iraq, despite the generalized situation of violence.
  • The UNHCR advises against forcibly returning any Iraqis from Central or Southern Iraq.
  • Canada has temporarily suspended removals to Iraq because of the situation of generalized risk.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Amnesty International, Millions in flight: the Iraqi refugee crisis, AI Index: MDE 14/041/2007, 24 September 2007, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE140412007

Amnesty International, Iraq: Human rights abuses against Palestinian refugees, AI Index: MDE 14/030/2007, 1 October 2007, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE140302007

Foreign Affairs Canada, Canadian Statement, UNHCR conference on “Addressing the Humanitarian Needs of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons inside Iraq and in Neighbouring Countries”, Geneva, 17-18 April 2007, http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canada_un/geneva/2007-04-1718-en.asp

Relief Web, Appeals & Funding, Iraq: Funding received 2007, http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fts.nsf/doc105?OpenForm&rc=3&cc=irq

UNHCR, Opening Statement by Mr. António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the Fifty-eighth Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, Geneva, 1 October 2007, http://www.unhcr.org/admin/ADMIN/4700eff54.html

UNHCR, Resettlement of Iraqi Refugees, 12 March 2007, http://tinyurl.com/3x75ek

UNHCR, Return Advisory and Position on International Protection Needs of Iraqis Outside Iraq, 30 April 2007, http://tinyurl.com/3ddxb9

UNHCR, Statistics on Displaced Iraqis around the World, September 2007, http://tinyurl.com/24g3ny

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker Cable, "Iraqi Refugee Processing: Can We Speed It Up?" September 2007, http://www.rcusa.org/uploads///pdfs/Crocker%20Cable%202,%209-07.pdf

U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Fact Sheet: U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Displaced Iraqis, 20 September 2007, http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/fs/92560.htm

World Vision, Trapped! Unlocking the future of Iraqi refugee children, undated, http://www.iraqichildrentrapped.org/Downloads/wv_report.pdf and http://www.iraqichildrentrapped.org/