[A-List] Unprecedented Human Tragedy: 4 Million Iraqis Forced To Flee, Displaced

["Tony B." <tal1@xxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rick Rozoff
To: Stop NATO
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 5:24 PM
Subject: [stopnato] Unprecedented Human Tragedy: 4 Million Iraqis Forced To 
Flee, Displaced


http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iNOyDVjtdX60deDcr0wAnD4fHE5g

Agence France-Presse
September 23, 2007

Two million displaced inside Iraq since US invasion:
report

BAGHDAD- Nearly two million Iraqis have fled their
homes for other parts of Iraq since the US invasion,
creating a "unprecedented human tragedy," the
country's Red Crescent said in a report.

The figure covers only those internally displaced and
does not include the UN-estimated two million others
who have also fled but left their homeland completely,
to go to Syria, Jordan, other neighbouring countries
and even to Europe.

As at August 31 this year, 1,930,946 people had left
their homes to seek safety elsewhere within Iraq's
borders since the March 2003 invasion, creating a
record in the annals of Iraq's human upheaval, the
humanitarian society said.

Most were women and children - poor, sick, suffering
from malnutrition and with little access to the
country's health infrastructure or basic services.

"Heads of families have very often fled or joined an
armed group....Rape, armed gangs, theft, drug
addiction" were commonplace among internally displaced
people, the Red Crescent said.

"The horror of daily slaughter and attacks has a
serious impact on the psychological health of the
women and children. The overall picture is that of a
human tragedy unprecedented in Iraq's history."

According to the Red Crescent, the number of displaced
people increased by some 71 percent in August compared
to July, with most of the increase in Baghdad.

The capital now had nearly one million displaced
people for an estimated total population of four to
five million, it said.

The report offered no explanation for the sudden jump
in Baghdad residents leaving their homes, but it
coincided with the sixth month of a vast US military
offensive or "surge" to try to improve security there.

US claims of success in the battle against armed
groups could have spurred civilians to flee during a
period of relative calm.

The humanitarian group said the attack on the Shiite
shrine in Samarra in February 2006 spurred the exodus
of thousands of Iraqis when it unleashed widespread
sectarian violence.

"Thousands of Shiites fled Sunni zones, and
vice-versa. Many Christians also left Sunni districts
to go to Kurdistan" in northern Iraq, where recent
Turkish and Iranian bombardments of frontier regions
have also prompted thousands to flee.

The Iraqi Red Crescent is one of the rare humanitarian
organisations still active in the war-ravaged nation.

Separately, the UN refugee agency has said that 1.4
million Iraqis have now sought refuge in Syria, with
between 500,000 and 750,000 in neighbouring Jordan.

About 30,000 Iraqis flee to Syria every month, forcing
the authorities there to impose visa restrictions, the
United Nations said recently.

Syrian officials indicate that Damascus now plans to
permit entry only to those Iraqis from the economic,
commercial and scientific sectors.

The Iraqi exile is the largest population upheaval in
the Middle East since the flight of the Palestinians
after the state of Israel was created in 1948.

Examining its impact on the Iraqi people, the report
said: "These recent events, in addition to decades of
severe oppression and sanctions fractured the
integrity of the civil order and society in Iraq."

Pinpointing the plight of the displaced, the Red
Crescent said they could be divided into five
categories: those finding refuge with relatives; those
living in government buildings; those renting
appartments; those who have built shelters on
unoccupied land; and, the most-deprived, those who
have found refuge in mosques.

In a sole note of hope, the Red Crescent figures
suggested that the search for shelter is not
necessarily based on confessional or ethnic criteria.

Many Sunni and Shiite families are seeking refuge in
mixed districts, contradicting the thesis of an
inexorable community division.

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