Washington, D.C. - The best solution for most displaced Iraqis is to return home, but the Government of Iraq and the international community must first establish safe conditions for them, a new field report by Refugees International (RI) said today. "Iraq: Preventing the Point of No Return" notes that despite encouraging returns, the Government of Iraq has not realistically assessed the country's ability to absorb large numbers of returns. RI found that Iraqis who have returned struggle to find shelter, electricity, water, jobs and access to health care.
"There is immense pressure on displaced Iraqis to return home. The problem is that they return home to ethnically cleansed neighborhoods and poor government services," said RI President Ken Bacon. "Today marks the 6th anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. The U.S., its allies and the UN need to provide Iraq with the necessary financial and technical assistance to help Iraqis return home and rebuild their lives."
Last month, Refugees International completed a mission to Baghdad, Eskanderia, Fallujah, Karbala and Hilla to assess the humanitarian situation inside Iraq. On this mission, RI learned that displaced people still feared sectarian violence against them and their families. There is also a risk of renewed bloodshed as "awakening groups," or militias formed by the U.S. army, have not yet been integrated into the Iraqi armed forces and police.
"Iraq: Preventing the Point of No Return" also states that the aid community is unable to get a comprehensive picture of conditions for people and that restrictions placed on UN staff need to be adapted to the actual security climate in individual regions. Iraqis interviewed by RI expressed a desire to see the UN return and function fully in the country.
"Security restrictions placed on UN staff are unreasonable given the improved security. No one is saying Iraq is completely safe, but there are measures that can be taken to guarantee UN staff safety while increasing access to vulnerable people," added Mr. Bacon. "We visited with groups of displaced Iraqis who lived in deplorable conditions and were not yet registered with the Ministry of Displacement and Migration. They had yet to receive any assistance from UN agencies or aid organizations. These people simply cannot continue to slip through the cracks."
According to the International Organization for Migration, only 50,000 families have returned, mostly to Baghdad, and only 8 % of these were refugees from neighboring countries. In addition, an IOM survey shows that 61 percent of the 2.6 million internally displaced would like to return, but don't feel able to do so now.
Refugees International is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates to end refugee crises. Since November 2006, the organization has conducted nine missions to the Middle East to assess the needs of displaced Iraqis and work with international leaders to develop effective solutions to this crisis. For more information, go to
www.refugeesinternational.org .
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Contact:
Vanessa Parra; +1-202-904-0319
Vanessa@refugeesinternational.org
