14 February 2007
State's Dobriansky Outlines Strategies To Help Iraqi Refugees
Says she hopes for security environment that will allow Iraqis to return home
Washington – The best way the United States and other countries can assist displaced Iraqis fleeing violence in their country is to help re-establish a stable security environment that will allow them to return home, according to Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs.
“[T]he United States and the international community can best help displaced Iraqis by quelling the violence in Iraq and assisting them in making their country peaceful, prosperous and secure,” she told reporters at a February 14 briefing. “We are committed to working with the Iraqi government to create a stable and secure environment that enables Iraqis to repatriate voluntarily to their homeland.”
She said the United States also is committed to responding to the immediate needs of those who have fled their homes. She said the United States would help build the capacity of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and nongovernmental organizations to respond to the crisis. In addition, she said, the United States will open its doors to a greater number of Iraqi refugees and take as many as 7,000 additional referrals from UNHCR over the next nine months.
Dobriansky is chairing a senior-level task force created by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to coordinate the U.S. response to the refugee crisis. (See related article.)
UNHCR estimates that there are approximately 1.8 million internally displaced people within Iraq and that another 2 million Iraqis have fled their country, with most of those now residing in Jordan and Syria.
Dobriansky said the United States would work with Iraq’s neighbors to help them deal with the inflow of displaced people. In addition, she said, the United States will give its full support to an upcoming UNHCR donor’s conference for Iraqi refugees in April.
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey said it is incorrect to assume that the majority of those Iraqis now living in neighboring countries want to resettle elsewhere.
“In reality, this refugee crisis is no different than those that we deal with throughout the world, and most people do not want to resettle in another country. Most people want to stay in the region, certainly have their needs met, but they want to go home,” she said.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres agreed that resettlement is not the solution for everyone’s problems. He added that it is not a practical answer to the situation given the limited opportunities for resettlement worldwide.
“The global number of resettlement opportunities in 2006 for all destinations, from all crises in the world, has been about at 70,000. You can understand, when we are speaking about 2 million people, we must make sure that first of all we create the conditions to assist them where they are now,” he said.
Guterres expressed concern about the capacity of neighboring countries, particularly Jordan and Syria, to continue bearing the burden of this population movement on their economies and their social infrastructure.
“[I]t is understandable that countries that have received, as I said, many hundred thousands of Iraqis feel the pressure over the economy, over prices, real estate market, the pressure of infrastructure -- namely, the education and the health systems -- and their impact in the social fabrics and in the security concerns of the governments,” he said.
He said he noticed on his recent visit to the region that public opinion in those countries has begun to turn against the Iraqi refugees. “So there is a risk for the protection environment of the Iraqis there,” he said.
He urged the international community to increase its support for these countries to help them sustain their efforts to protect and assist the Iraqi refugees.
Dobriansky also mentioned that the United States is considering what measures it might take to protect those Iraqis who are at risk because of their close association with the U.S. government. She said the administration is considering the possibility of creating special immigrant visas for those individuals.
A transcript of the briefing is available on the State Department Web site.
For additional information on U.S. efforts to assist refugees, see Humanitarian Assistance and Refugees.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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