Voices from the Field - IRC Blog

“They are clustered not in camps but in overcrowded urban neighborhoods, crammed into dark, squalid apartments,” say the four co-authors, all of whom took part in a recent IRC delegation to the Middle East. “Many have been traumatized by extreme violence. Their savings are dwindling; many cannot afford to pay for rent, heat and food; few have proper medical care.”"There is no denying that the United States has a special responsibility to help,” the co-authors say. “The sectarian violence these Iraqi refugees fled is a byproduct of the invasion and its chaotic aftermath.”

The op-ed outlines critical steps the United States and the international community should take to address the humanitarian emergency. Please read this urgent call for action in the New York Times and send it to family and friends.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

A cover article in yesterday’s USA Today spotlights the small number of Iraqi refugees being granted refuge in the United States. The story is set in Boise, Idaho, one of nearly 20 U.S. locations where the IRC is helping newly arrived Iraqi refugees:

HOW TO HELP

Millions of Iraqis have had to flee horrific violence. You can speak out for the innocent bystanders of the Iraq conflict. Please add your name to our pledge to aid desperate and uprooted Iraqis and spread the word about their plight.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of vulnerable Iraqi families.

“The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq five years ago and its violent aftermath have produced one of the largest humanitarian crises of our time, yet the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ has been mostly unwilling to own up to it and provide adequate aid for the innocent bystanders.”

- A new International Rescue Committee Commission report calling the U.S. and world response to the Iraqi refugee crisis ‘grossly inadequate.’ More than four million Iraqi civilians are estimated to be uprooted by violence and in dire need of help in a crisis that is largely hidden from the public and ignored by the international community.

“I’m here to see my children happy and laughing, I want them to drink orange juice in the morning. In Baghdad they smelled and drank smoke and rockets.”

- Nazar Joodi, an Iraqi refugee resettled by the IRC with his family in the Washington D.C. area, speaking with The Washington Examiner.

“I don’t think I have ever worked so closely with the private sector.”

- Pam Flowers, IRC country director in Azerbaijan, quoted in The Christian Science Monitor for an article about community projects in Azerbaijan created by the oil company, BP.

“If we don’t make our best-faith efforts, with the best methods available, we’ll get back to the bad old days when someone makes up a number … and [the number] is going to get perpetuated.”

- Richard Brennan, IRC senior health director, speaking with The National Journal for an article about accurately counting refugee flows or deaths caused by war and famine. A new IRC survey has found that 5,400,000 people have died from war-related causes in Congo since 1998 – the world’s deadliest documented conflict since WW II.

While Iraqis who fled the war in their country are waiting in Douma center outside Damascus for the UNHCR to register them as refugees, Iraqi clowns are part of a troupe called – nomen omen “Happy Family” (refugees themselves after two of the group were killed in Baghdad) stage a performance about the need for the children to go to school. UNHCR’s research showed that 76% of Iraqi children are not enrolled in Syrian schools although it is possible and free. Photo: Anna Husarska/The IRC

An Iraqi woman inspects the dolls in a street stall in Sayyida Zaynab, outside Damascus.
Photo: Anna Husarska/The IRC

A notice in an Iraqi barber shop advertises free trips for returnees offered by the Iraqi authorities. The customer being shaved has no intention to return: his name is “Saddam” so he may be right to stay away. The barber and his friend say “perhaps, but not yet.” Photo: Anna Husarska/The IRC

A UNHCR employee registers a family of Iraqi refugees in Douma outside Damascus.
Photo: Anna Husarska/The IRC