Following their event on Capitol Hill yesterday, Refugees International has released a report stressing that the situation facing Iraq and its citizens, both refugees and internally displaced persons, is still volatile.
Among the most pressing problems that remain for the community of Iraqi refugees and IDP’s (Internationally Displaced Persons) is the lack of basic services within Iraq, which has driven as much as 30% of Iraq’s IDP population into the slums. Outside the country, Iraq’s refugees still languish in dire conditions. The UNHCR, which oversees the refugees and works to help them is at the time extremely undermanned and underfunded. For the refugees themselves, unemployment is rampant, and many families are separated as men are forced to leave to find work in other countries. For many children, school is not an option because of the costs associated with attending. And these are only a few of the issues.
The RI report proposes that the United States and the international community do more to accommodate for those Iraqis in need, even as United States forces move out of Iraq. Indeed, these coming months and years are critical for the Iraqi refugees and the decisions that are made will effect the entire region. They cannot be forgotten.
Check out and download Refugee International’s Field Report here: Iraq: Humanitarian Needs Persist