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On the Hill: Iraqi Refugees: Can the U.S. do more to help?
February 26, 2008
By Christina Caspersen
On Capitol Hill Tuesday, Two Congressional subcommittees held a joint briefing to discuss what measures the United States can take to improve the situation in Iraq with regards to Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) began the discussion by stating that before the U.S. can leave Iraq, it is its duty to stabilize the country. Iraq will crumble without stabilization, he said. With regards to Kurdish IDPs in northern Iraq, Rohrabacher cited examples of interviews he had performed in the area. He was outraged that many people he spoke with refused to leave the displaced persons camps once their homes were deemed safe to return. From what he gathered, these displaced persons did not want to leave because they would have to pay rent and preferred the free living within the camp. IDPs he interviewed were also waiting to be granted asylum in either the U.S. or Europe. Rohrabacher stated, “This is not a positive use of limited money.” The limited funds should be used in the most desperate of situations and not in areas that he illustrated because these IDPs were being “irrational,” he said, adding that the U.S. needs to be tougher with refugee situations and should only get involved when situations are in total crisis or completely desperate. The U.S. should not be wasting money playing games, he said, further demanding that the U.S. holds Iraq accountable to the situation by creating a payback system.
Representative Gary Ackerman (D-NY) thinks that the consequences of the refugee situation should have been expected by the U.S. Over 2 million refugees are dispersed and can’t get services they need to survive, he noted, arguing that the U.S. needs to claim the majority of responsibility for these people. The only unexpected issue is the length of time it will take to develop the services. Ackerman stated that he was “amazed of the inability [of the U.S.] to meet targets set by President Bush” in regards to granting refugees asylum. “There is no way to meet those targets this fiscal year” because of the slow pace the program has set up, he added. Ackerman thinks that this represents a national embarrassment caused by an incompetent and insincere administration.
Representative David Scott (D-GA) briefly stated that the U.S. needs to “step up and say we [the U.S.] had a big role in creating this [refugee] problem.” The issue at hand deserves commitment, he said, and because the U.S.’s hands caused the situation, it should be the U.S.’s hands that fix it.
The two witnesses speaking about the Iraqi refugee situation were the Honorable L. Craig Johnstone, Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees at the United Nations refugee agency, and Rafiq Tschannen, Chief of Mission for Iraq and Jordan for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Johnstone said that it is hard to put a figure on the number of refugees that are actually in Iraq. It is also hard to determine who really needs help and who could get by without assistance. The demographics of the refugees are 50 percent Sunni, 25 percent Shia, 25 percent Christian and other minorities. Most refugees have at least a high school education and are quite articulate. 20 percent of all women are heads of their household, as most men are fighting or have been killed in the war. With money running out, living conditions are deplorable. Women are turning to prostitution and survival sex for financial means.
Tschannen reiterated the same concerns Johnstone had about the situation. He added that IDPs and refugees are interlinked. He is concerned that things will get worse before they will get better because it is difficult to predict the future of the camps and the people who inhabit them.
Ackerman concluded the briefing by stating that in order to improve the refugee situation, “We must want it more than we want it.” The U.S. must stop pointing fingers and step up to the plate, he said, adding that the U.S. “has much to make up for, much to live down to.” |
