Iraq refugee problem growing, U.N. says

CNN reports that the U.N.’s refugee agency said Monday that it will seek $60 million this year to help the roughly 3.7 million people displaced by violence in Iraq. Women are increasingly forced into prostitution and reports of child labor abuses are on the rise, according to a U.N. news replease. “Increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and generalized violence,” it says.  Click here for the full story.

Military conflicts often cause refugee flows.  Many examples, from Central America in the 1980s to the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s to several African nations today, come to mind.  The world community will soon need to address how to deal with displaced people in Iraq.

KJ