scribblings from a deist transhumanist libertarian minarchist citizen soldier

Two million displaced Iraqis

Posted by Trevor in Uncategorized on May 14th, 2007 | View Comments |

The United States bears responsibility for helping these people. Two million displaced Iraqis need humanitarian assistance.

The numbers dwarfed anything that the Middle East had seen since the dislocations brought on by the establishment of Israel in 1948. In Syria, there were estimated to be 1.2 million Iraqi refugees. There were another 750,000 in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon and 10,000 in Turkey. The overall estimate for the number of Iraqis who had fled Iraq was put at two million by Guterres. The number of displaced Iraqis still inside Iraq’s borders was given as 1.9 million. This would mean about 15 percent of Iraqis have left their homes.

How many Iraqi refugees were allowed into the U.S. last year? 500. That’s shameful. We created the displacement by invading, and we should do more to address the problem.

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datarat

I would say that I qualify as naive here. I don't think admitting refugees would be tantamount to admitting failure, I think it would be merely charitable.

But then, I'm not a politician.

Trevor

I won't argue that there isn't bias.

As far as the barriers Iraqis face in immigration to the U.S. heres a link.

The United States had, until recently, reserved only 500 spots for Iraqi refugees in 2007 - though the State Department says it wants to allocate as many as 20,000 U.S. refugee slots to Iraqis. It would like to bring more in, but blames an unwieldy U.N. processing system. Perhaps the real problem has more to do with politics: Accepting Iraqi refugees would be akin to America admitting defeat in its efforts to pacify Iraq and a huge setback in its fight against terrorism in the region.

datarat

While I agree with you completely about our responsibilities in Iraq, I have some doubts about the facts as reported.

The report says the numbers are estimates, so like the Lancet numbers the methodology is critical. I'm also sure that you've noticed that the UN has a vested interest in pumping up those numbers in order to keep eyes off the devastation in Somalia.

Finally, I suspect the writer may have an agenda. The article notes that the writer is a fellow of the New America Foundation, which thinks things like Universal Risk Insurance and there's this, proudly displayed on the web site of the New America Foundation:
Nir Rosen - who speaks Arabic and has Middle Eastern looks - went to Iraq in April 2003, just days after Baghdad fell.

Entering mosques and tribal meeting halls, and afforded access to fighters' secret meetings and Iraqi homes, he documented the deadly behind-the-scenes manoeuvring in the post-Saddam power vacuum.

So I'm not saying there's not a problem. Most assuredly there is, and it needs to be addressed. But I do wonder about the bias inherent in this reporter.

There is a reported number of refugees admitted to the United States, but I'd be more interested in the number rejected, and why. You've noted before the barriers to citizenship in this country, but I wonder about the barriers for shelter or asylum.