INTERVIEW-Group warns Iraq refugees could destabilise region
By Peter Apps
LONDON, Nov 6 (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.
"You're looking at families having to choose which of their children they can send to school, or cutting back to just one or two meals a day," she said.
"They are becoming disenfranchised, desperate and losing their skills. You have doctors an architect unable to work."
Western funding for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR had risen, she said, but the governments in Syria, Jordan and Egypt themselves needed more funding to cope.
The water and sanitation system in the Syrian capital Damascus was already being stretched to its limits, she said.
But so far Western governments had provided no direct bilateral support of Syria, she said.
"Syria has taken more refugees than all the other countries combined," she said.
"We understand that there are political issues but the fact is, no matter where you stand, you have to acknowledge that. If you don't want to give money directly to Syria, then there are other ways of getting through such as the UN or Arab League but they are simply not being used."
The UN estimates another 2.25 million Iraqis are displaced within the country's borders, with fears that number could rise further if Turkey makes good on threats to send troops into northern Iraq hunting Kurdish militants. (Writing by Peter Apps; Editing by Keith Weir)
LONDON, Nov 6 (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.
"You're looking at families having to choose which of their children they can send to school, or cutting back to just one or two meals a day," she said.
"They are becoming disenfranchised, desperate and losing their skills. You have doctors an architect unable to work."
Western funding for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR had risen, she said, but the governments in Syria, Jordan and Egypt themselves needed more funding to cope.
The water and sanitation system in the Syrian capital Damascus was already being stretched to its limits, she said.
But so far Western governments had provided no direct bilateral support of Syria, she said.
"Syria has taken more refugees than all the other countries combined," she said.
"We understand that there are political issues but the fact is, no matter where you stand, you have to acknowledge that. If you don't want to give money directly to Syria, then there are other ways of getting through such as the UN or Arab League but they are simply not being used."
The UN estimates another 2.25 million Iraqis are displaced within the country's borders, with fears that number could rise further if Turkey makes good on threats to send troops into northern Iraq hunting Kurdish militants. (Writing by Peter Apps; Editing by Keith Weir)
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