ICG Report on Iraqi Refugees

[Slightly outdated refugee map from UNHCR. The number has risen to approximately 2 and a half million]

“This is a humanitarian tragedy, but it is more than that. Rich in oil, Iraq today is bankrupt in terms of human resources. It will take decades to recover and rebuild. Because most refugees come from what used to be the (largely secular) middle class, their flight has further impoverished Iraq and potentially deprived it of its professional stratum for a decade or more. The period of exile should be used to teach refugees new skills to facilitate their eventual social reintegration and contribution. There is every reason to assist host countries in that endeavour…” Click for full article

Comment: I was just wondering — if things are so much better and more free in Iraq now than under Saddam, why did 2 and a half million Iraqis leave their homes, families and livelihoods behind to live in squalid conditions in neighboring countries which lack the infrastructure to accomodate them and where, out of desperation, many are forced into prostitution and crime? Why do so few of them have plans to return in the foreseeable future? Is it because they’re too stupid to realize how much things have improved in their country like John Mccain realized after his helicopter gunship-secured tour through the Baghdad marketplace? Are they too blind to see? They must not get Fox News over there, and unfortunately don’t know the truth.

[Iraqi refugees on the Syrian border. If only they had access to Hannity and Colmes]