London - Amnesty International on Monday accused the
international community of ignoring the flow of refugees from Iraq
and warned that continuing to do so would spark 'greater political
instability across the wider region.'
In a report published in London, Amnesty called on countries to
meet their 'moral obligation' and 'shoulder a fair share' of the
millions of refugees who have fled their homes, especially to
neighbouring Syria and Jordan.
According to Amnesty, an estimated 2,000 people per day are
leaving Iraq in what the organization said was now the world's
'fastest-growing displacement crisis.'
Syria had now hosted 1.4 million Iraqi refugees, while Jordan had
given shelter to more than 500,000. An additional 2.2 million
displaced people remained in Iraq.
Especially Britain, as one of the leaders of the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, should be helping to alleviate the crisis. It was 'staggering'
that Britain had instead forcibly returned more people to Iraq than
any other European country, said the report.
It warned that the lack of support from the international
community could lead Syria and Jordan to tighten their borders,
thereby cutting off escape routes for those trying to flee the
violence.
'The desperate humanitarian situation of displaced Iraqis,
including the refugees and those who remain within Iraq, has been
largely ignored by the world,' said Malcolm Smart, Director of
Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Programme.
'A deepening humanitarian crisis and greater political instability
across the wider region are looming, unless the international
community meets its obligation to shoulder a fair share of the
responsibility for protecting and assisting Iraqi refugees,' he said
on presenting the report.
'We are very concerned that the new visa requirements being
introduced by Syria and Jordan will prevent Iraqis receiving the
protection they need. We urge both governments to keep their borders
open to those fleeing for their lives,' said Smart.
However, other states had to do more to assist these two countries
by providing increased financial, technical and in-kind bilateral aid
to enable them to meet the health, schooling and other needs of the
refugees, while at the same time accepting greater numbers of
especially vulnerable refugees for resettlement.
Amnesty International also called for ongoing assistance from the
international community to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), as well as national and international humanitarian
organizations to enable them to continue to provide and expand their
current work to protect and assist Iraqis in need.
The report said that between 2003, when the US-led invasion
toppled Saddam Hussein, and 2006, the number of Iraqi refugees
resettled in third countries fell by more than half, despite rising
political violence. According to UNHCR, 1,425 Iraqi refugees were
resettled in third countries in 2003 but only 404 in 2006.
'The international community must accept a shared responsibility
by resettling Iraqis from Jordan and Syria, particularly the most
vulnerable, in a more expedient manner with a view to increasing the
overall resettlement quotas in third countries,' said Smart.
In particular, the countries making up the US-led multinational
force were called upon to do more to help alleviate the plight of the
refugees.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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