Refugees International: Articles: NPR: Iraqi Exodus Draws Senate's Attention

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NPR: Iraqi Exodus Draws Senate's Attention

Brian Naylor
01/17/2007
NPR

Click here to read the entire article.

Below is an excerpt from an NPR report:

An estimated 100 thousand Iraqis are fleeing their violence-wracked nation each month, and that was the subject of a Senate hearing Wednesday.

Experts say refugees are fleeing Iraq in a rising tide. People like Sami (not his real name), who testified before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Tuesday using a screen to protect his identity. Sami was a translator for the U.S. military in Iraq, until he heard that his name had been posted on the walls of mosques, labeling him a traitor. And then came the attack:

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But translators and other Iraqis who have worked for the U.S. are hardly the only ones who have left. According to Kenneth Bacon, who heads the group Refugees International, some 1.7 million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes but remain in Iraq. Another 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, settling mainly in the neighboring states of Jordan and Syria.

"Syria and Jordan have been gracious hosts, but the refugee influx is straining their economies," Bacon said. "The host countries need help and increasingly the refugees themselves need direct assistance. The U.N. high commissioner for refugees reports that some women are resorting to prostitution to support their families and child labor is becoming an increasing problem."

The U.S. has taken in relatively few Iraqi refugees — just 466 since 2003, according to Ellen Sauerbrey, the assistant Secretary of State who deals with refugee issues.

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Sauerbrey responded that the State Department is trying, but that it is hard:

"I have to tell you it is a very difficult issue to try to figure out how to do this — within Iraq, within the Green Zone, within the embassy — how to do this," she said. "It does not have an easy solution."

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Democrats also are critical of the administration's $20 million request for Iraq refugee assistance. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) says the administration should seek a higher amount when it submits its supplemental budget request next month.