The limited international attention given to a global conference held in Amman Thursday to consider the plight of the four million Iraqis who have fled the violent chaos in their country reflects the way in which this exodus itself has been widely ignored. Yet the flight of around a seventh of the Iraqi population is the largest migration in the Middle East since hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from the new Israeli state during Al-Nakba 60 years ago.
This low-level response may in part be informed by a feeling that many of those who have fled the violence left because they could readily afford to. The sentiment might also be entertained that within the exodus are many of Iraq’s talented professionals, whose abandonment of their country has made much harder the job of the unity government in Baghdad. It is certainly true that many rich people have taken their families away from the lawlessness that at the least made them targets for criminal gangs who would kidnap them for ransom. But a large number of professionals, particularly doctors and senior educators, have quit after death threats. Who can blame them?
Jordan and Syria are the two main harbors for Iraq’s refugees; the former hosts around 750,000 while the latter at least 1.4 million. The Jordanians are appealing for more help with the $1-billion annual bill they face in caring for their guests. The tally for Syria is clearly at least twice as big. The other Amman conference participants, Iraq, Egypt, the United Nations, the European Union, Arab League, the Red Cross and Red Crescent with observers from Iran, Turkey, Russia, Britain, Japan and the United States, all agreed that more money must be found. The UNHCR last month asked for $123 million for accommodation, food and medical care for Iraqis. To its credit, the government in Baghdad is giving $25 million.
Yet the unspoken text behind the 10-point resolution was that nothing should be done to regularize the position of Iraqi refugees in the same way that Palestinians were largely welcomed after the loss of their homeland. Everyone agreed that the only real solution is to create the stable and peaceful conditions in Iraq that will persuade the four million citizens to go home.
While Al-Qaeda continues to drive the violence in Iraq, the rival Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities are still at often-deadly odds. This was not what most electors wanted when they chose legislators to take part in the national unity government. It is the responsibility of Iraq’s elected politicians to get on with the job of compromise and understanding and working effectively together. Yet they are giving the voters they represent no clear lead in burying differences and creating consensus and stability.
Politicians paralyzed either by prejudice or lack of political will have already missed so many opportunities. When the refugee tide reverses and people start returning home, it will signal success. Tragically there are no signs of this yet.
