Assistant Secretary of State Sauerbrey says U.S. has a "moral obligation" to provide assistance to Iraqi refugees
Washington, DC - Refugees International applauds the statements made yesterday by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey urging increased assistance to Iraqi refugees. While announcing that the U.S. will provide $30 million to help educate Iraqi refugee children in the region, Ms. Sauerbrey stated that America has a "moral obligation" to aid Iraqi refugees. Specifically, she said that the U.S. must "provide the assistance necessary to help people continue to be in the region for when the day comes that Iraq is a stable country and people will have a home to return to."
The U.S. Department of State announced that it has provided a total of $183 million for displaced Iraqis this fiscal year, but with more than 4.2 million Iraqis forced out of their homes, this equals less than $45 per person for the entire year. Refugees International is also concerned that most of this funding has gone to UN agencies, and that the U.S. has provided almost no funding to the governments that are trying to provide housing, health care and education to the massive influx of refugees.
"If the United States wants to see a stable Iraq, it must take the lead in providing assistance to the governments that are struggling to provide services to Iraqi refugees, so that the unrest that has displaced them does not spread across the region," said Sean Garcia, an advocate for Refugees International. "We are pleased that Ms. Sauerbrey is saying we have a 'moral obligation' to help Iraqis, but without offering substantially more bilateral funding she is giving empty words."
The United Nations estimates that more than 2.2 million Iraqis have been displaced inside Iraq and another 2 million have fled the country. Syria and Jordan are absorbing the greatest number of Iraqi refugees, with growing number finding refugee throughout the region. The UN Refugee Agency estimates that 60,000 refugees cross Iraq's borders every month. A report by the Iraqi Red Crescent Society says that 80,000 to 100,000 people are also displaced inside Iraq every month but unable to leave the country.
Refugees International is calling for the U.S. to increase bilateral and multilateral assistance to Jordan, Syria and other host countries to help them shoulder the burden of the refugee population, and to press our allies in the Middle East and Europe to do more as well. In addition, the administration should publicly support congressional legislation that increases resettlement of vulnerable Iraqis into the U.S. Regional governments must also do more to cooperate with each other and U.S. officials to confront this problem.
"Syria and Jordan have been generous with their support of Iraqi refugees, but these governments are straining to provide housing, education and health care for the large refugee population," Mr. Garcia continued. "People are not living in refugee camps where the UN can come in and provide all that is needed. Iraqis are living amongst the host population and using the same services they do. We need to support governments that provide these services."
Refugees International is a Washington, DC-based organization that advocates ending refugee crises. Since November 2006, the organization has conducted three missions to Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt to assess the needs of Iraqi refugees and work with international leaders to develop effective solutions to this crisis. For more information, go to http://www.refugeesinternational.org/iraq.
CONTACT:
Vanessa Parra, 202-828-0110 x225
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