Iraqi Refugees Sad Stories
With the Iraq War dragging on for over four years and with no end in sight millions of Iraqis have fled their country.
I have previously written about how impossible it will be to rebuild Iraq when so many of the professional and business class of citizens are leaving. These are the type of people needed to build any strong nation. Without them you will have only a failed state.
So far only the neighboring countries of Jordan and Syria have taken in large numbers of Iraqi refugees. Here is a list of nations who have taken in significant numbers of refugees. Syria: 1,200,000 Jordan: 750,000 Gulf states: 200,000 Egypt: 100,000 Iran: 54,000 Lebanon: 40,000 Turkey: 10,000 Source: UNHCR.
Notice that the US and Britain, the nations who precipitated this total disaster of a war, are not on the list. So far the United States has taken in only a few hundred refugees, although the annual permitted total was recently increased to 7,000.
While generally treated well in neighboring countries referees are not permitted to legally work. Even for people of some means all expenses and no income will quickly drain savings accounts and force the sale of whatever assets the poor refugees may have been able to bring with them. What will they do when the money runs out?
Neighboring countries, especially Jordan and Syria, are not very keen on allowing many more refugees into their countries. This is understandable. The cost of handling such large numbers of displaced people is considerable and the sudden influx of such large numbers of refugees have placed a considerable strain on the countries resources.
What misery George W. Bush has brought to Iraq and indeed to the entire region.
Countries in the Gulf states are fearful of a complete meltdown in Iraq that would absolutely further destabilize the region and flood them with even more desperate refugees. The Gulf states are also fearful of a spread in the Sunni – Shia conflict which has the potential to wreck havoc in every Gulf nation.
A few largely ignorant and arrogant men in Washington, D.C and in London have changed for the worst the lives of millions. For hundreds of thousands the change was absolute; they are now dead as a direct result of the reckless invasion of Iraq.
As westerners have become numbed by the constant deluge of bad news coming out of Iraq on a daily basis it may hit closer to home to see how the Iraq disaster has affected the lives of these few sad refugees.
Hopefully bringing the suffering down to a personal level will have more impact than by seeing the violent images on TV which have sadly become so common they no longer shock the senses.
The war in Iraq. George W. Bush’s legacy. A total catastrophe.
