The nearly 5 million forcibly displaced persons in Iraq and adjacent countries constitutes one of the major refugee crises facing the international community. Syria and Jordan now host nearly 2 ½ million Iraqi refugees.

Another 2 million uprooted Iraqis have been unable to find refugee in neighboring countries in their attempts to flee sectarian violence. Jordan has closed its border and Syria, in requiring visas for entry, has virtually excluded Iraqis from entering. Egypt and Laebanon are also inaccessible to Iraqi arrivals. This tragedy of no escape is compounded by the inability of these host countries with fragile infrastructures to absorb several million refugees. The less than generous response of the international community to assist Iraqi’s neighbors as they cope with the influx has added to the desperate situation facing these displaced Iraqis. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched an appeal for $123 million to help meet the basic needs of this burgeoning refugee population which it must now protect. The Government of Iraq has pledged but failed to deliver $25 million to countries in the region hosting their uprooted citizens. In the meantime, the impact of Iraqi refugee flows has meant limited health services for a population with serious medical problems. Jordan has begun to offer schooling to Iraqi youth with aid from the U.S. but Syria has yet to extend education to Iraqi youth. In both countries, job opportunities are scarce and crime and prostitution are emerging as serious social problems.

While committing to resettle 25,000 Iraqi refugees as its initial offer, the United States has to date accepted around 1600 refugees for resettlement with a further pledge to resettle 12,000 refugees in federal fiscal year 2008. This offer is insufficient given the magnitude of the crisis and the pressure being felt by host countries and the UNHCR to see a significantly larger number of persons move to a safe third country. .

Refugee rights activists fear the prospect of forcible repatriation if massive infusions of aid are not forthcoming in the very near future. A corollary of generous aid must be a vastly more ambitious resettlement program which gives priority to women and children at risk and religious minorities. There is currently legislation under consideration which would provide special immigrant visas to those being targeted because of their association with the U.S. military or contractors supporting the U.S. war effort

Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) along with colleague resettlement and refugee rights organizations is pressing for a more generous U.S. resettlement program for Iraqis and a substantial increase in U.S. humanitarian assistance including greatly beefed up support for the work of the UNHCR. EMM’s advocacy agenda parallels a resolution of a recently passed resolution of the Exective Council. The Refugee Council USA, a coalition of agencies of which EMM is a member, is advocating for an immediate aid package of $1.4 billion and an admissions ceiling for Iraqis this fiscal year of 25,000 persons. Failure to respond urgently to the Iraqi refugee crisis could condemn the larger region impacted by the war to greater danger and volatility and leave millions of refugees in life threatening situations. .