Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=4/25/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / UNHCR (L-O)

NUMBER=2-302580

BYLINE=LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE=GENEVA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: The United Nations refugee agency says it is making plans to repatriate up to 500-thousand Iraqi refugees. As Lisa Schlein reports from Geneva, the agency estimates 900-thousand Iraqi refugees now live outside the land of their birth.

TEXT: Before the war in Iraq, the U-N refugee agency was focusing on how it could help hundreds-of-thousands of Iraqis who were expected to flee their country during the war. But that flight never occurred, and now the agency is shifting its focus to prepare for the eventual return of hundreds-of-thousands of Iraqis who fled their country during the rule of Saddam Hussein.

U-N-H-C-R spokesman Ron Redmond says the agency has set aside nearly 120-million dollars for repatriating Iraqis.

/// REDMOND ACT ///

When the political climate is right, and we see an environment that's conducive to voluntary return -- and I should emphasize that we are a long way from that right now -- U-N-H-C-R wants to be ready. At the same time, we still need to be prepared for any possible outflow from Iraq, where continuing insecurity and the fragile religious and ethnic tensions could yet result in new displacement.

/// END ACT ///

There are hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees. Most of them live in neighboring countries. But many also live in Europe, North America and Australia.

Mr. Redmond says the refugee agency will only begin helping Iraqis return home, after it is sure the country is stable and secure.

/// 2ND REDMOND ACT ///

Some of the conditions that need to be in place include assurances of their physical safety -- in other words, things on the ground -- no more violence. There has got to be security. There has to be established operational law enforcement institutions. There has got to be material safety, which means access to survival and basic services -- medical, food, health, potable water.

/// END ACT ///

U-N-H-C-R spokesman Ron Redmond says Iraq has a long way to go before these conditions are met. In the meantime, he says, governments must continue to protect Iraqi refugees. (Signed)

NEB/LS/KL/RH/TW