Iraqi Refugee Crisis in NYT Op-ed

The International Rescue Committee has a great op-ed in the New York Times today. The organization sent a high-level delegation to Syria and Jordan in February to meet with Iraqi refugees, leaders in both nations, and U.S. and UN officials in order to assess the crisis firsthand. The op-ed suggests, and we agree strongly, that a comprehensive plan to deal with this long-term crisis must be a part of any strategy for moving forward in Iraq and the region.

The op-ed’s numbers highlight an interesting point – U.S. resettlement and aid levels have been presented in the media as woefully inadequate (our view) and as perfectly acceptable (the implication in some articles). So it’s worth looking at the numbers a bit more closely.

On resettlement: Between October 1, 2004, and March 31, 2008, the U.S. resettled 4,635 Iraqi refugees. By way of contrast, between 1959 and 1962, the U.S. accepted 200,000 Cuban refugees. Between May 1 and December 20, 1975, the U.S. accepted 131,000 Vietnamese refugees. In almost five years, we’ve brought just a tiny fraction of Iraqi refugees to safety, though it’s clear from history that when the will exists we can do much, much more.

On aid: Since 2003, the U.S. had provided more than $500 million in humanitarian aid for Iraqi refugees and IDPs. Also since 2003, the U.S. has spent more than $500 billion on the war in Iraq. The Congressional Research Service estimated (as of February 2008) that the Iraq war costs about $10 billion per month. That means that the U.S. spends more on the war in two days than we’ve contributed to humanitarian assistance for refugees and IDPs in five years.

The bottom line is clear from the numbers: The United States can and should do much more to meet the needs of the 4 million-plus Iraqis who have fled their homes.

Advocacy in DC on the Iraqi Refugee Crisis

The next couple of weeks are important ones for advocacy on behalf of Iraq's 4 million-plus refugees. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Gen. David Petraeus and Amb. Ryan Crocker will be testifying before Congress on the state of the war in Iraq. The recent violence in Basra, along with the ongoing U.S. presidential campaign, mean that attention will probably be trained on two central questions: the ability of Iraq's leadership to provide security and stability independent of the U.S. and the level of U.S. engagement on the ground in the months to come. What must not be forgotten in the evaluation of the current situation is the refugee crisis - the fates of the millions of Iraqis who have been displaced from their homes are inextricable from the future security of Iraq and the region. We hope that members of Congress will ask Gen. Petraeus and Amb. Crocker how the U.S. and Iraq intend to ensure protection for Iraq's displaced - and to guarantee that no refugee is forced to return to unsafe conditions. Without this guarantee (which is an obligation under customary international law aside from being the moral thing to do), stability and security in the region don't have much hope.

We plan to claim the Hill's attention ourselves the following week, along with other activists from around the country who will travel to DC to participate in the Iraq Action Days. The Iraq Policy Forum will take place at George Washington University on Monday, April 14. The advocacy days will take place on Tuesday, April 15, and Wednesday, April 16. Our goal is to bring a wide coalition of organizations and individuals to their Congressional representatives to educate them about the Iraqi refugee crisis and the moral obligation of the U.S. to respond with commitment and leadership. Four HRF staffers will be attending, and my colleague Amelia Templeton will conduct the advocacy workshop on Tuesday morning. Please let me know if you plan to join us by emailing me at epsteinr@humanrightsfirst.org. For more info, you can check out the website here.