Iraqi Refugees Could Destablize Region

Peter Apps reports for Reuters:

Failure to properly fund and support more than two million Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries risks further destabilising an already volatile region, a refugee advocacy group said on Tuesday.

U.S.-based Refugees International says countries such as the United States and Britain that invaded Iraq in 2003 had done far too little to help those who fled the country, leaving governments in Syria, Egypt and Jordan struggling to cope.

“There is growing resentment and growing despair,” Refugees International advocate Kristele Younes told Reuters in a telephone interview while visiting London to lobby donors.

“This is happening in a region that is already very volatile. If we do not act now this will have a destabilising effect — it is in everyone’s interest to tackle the problem. It would cost much less than funding the war.”

Unable to work due to visa restrictions and often forced to pay large amounts for the most basic accommodation, life for those who had fled Iraq was increasingly bleak, she said. Click here for the full story.

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