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Refugees: Iraq's Unspoken Crisis

US must rebuild shattered lives now or face decades of disorder: Kristof

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:56 AM CDT
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(Newser) – New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof travels to Jordan to report on one of the unintended consequences of the Iraq war: a regional refugee crisis. About 2 million Iraqis, mostly Sunnis, have fled since the war, living mostly in Jordan and Syria in deplorable conditions. "They are the new Palestinians," writes Kristof, "the 21st-century Arab diaspora that threatens the region’s stability."

America has a "moral responsibility" to help Iraqi refugees, but doing so is also in the national interest. As Kristof writes, poor young refugees risk becoming radicalized unless they receive education, food, and basic assistance. The best way to prevent decades of Mideast instability, says the columnist, is not "Blackhawk helicopters, but help with school fees and school construction."

Iraqi women are seen through the window of a bus bound for Syria in central Baghdad, Iraq. A half-million Iraqis fled their embattled country in 2007, the third consecutive year more Iraqis were displaced than any other nationality, a survey of the world's refugees reported Thursday, June 19, 2008. (AP...
Iraqi women are seen through the window of a bus bound for Syria in central Baghdad, Iraq. A half-million Iraqis fled their embattled country in 2007, the third consecutive year more Iraqis were displaced...   (AP Photo)
Iraqi refugees fill in information forms at the Al-Tanaf border crossing with Iraq, 170 miles northeast of Damascus, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007.
Iraqi refugees fill in information forms at the Al-Tanaf border crossing with Iraq, 170 miles northeast of Damascus, Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007.   (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference in Amman, Jordan, Monday, Feb. 18, 2007. The international community and Iraq must bear greater financial responsibility and provide more resettlement possibilities to help Iraqi refugees, he said.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres speaks at a press conference in Amman, Jordan, Monday, Feb. 18, 2007. The international community and Iraq must bear greater financial responsibility...   (AP Photo)
Iraqi men sit at the Shako Mako Cafe, a gathering place for Iraqi refugees, near Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007.
Iraqi men sit at the Shako Mako Cafe, a gathering place for Iraqi refugees, near Cairo, Egypt on Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007.   (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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The UN's program for Iraqi refugees
UNHCR

US official visits Syria for refugee talks
AFP

 
Iraq • Jordan • Middle East • Syria • Sunnis • Iraqi refugees • Iraq war

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