No Place Home

- Iraqi Refugees between Precarious Safety and Precipitous Return

By Layla Al-Zubaidi and Heiko Wimmen

Violence and turmoil have caused a massive stream of refugees from Iraq to seek safety in neighboring countries. This report attempts to give an overview of the origin and magnitude of the crisis, probes the likelihood of substantial numbers of refugees returning in the near future, and assesses the responsibility of international actors towards the refugees.  Read...

Iraq's Displacement Crisis and the International Response
Washington DC, 06/12/2007

Conference held by the Center for American Progress and the Heinrich Böll Foundation to cover Iraq's displacement crisis, the international responses and  prospects for improving the situation. The panelists offered insights on the current challenges and examined the moral and security implications of the crisis, shared strategies, and identified programming and policy options. (Videocast available)

Articles

Lohoud.com
Croton filmmakers document suffering of Iraqi refugees
Documentary by Canadian filmmakers Andrew Courtney and Emily Perry of Croton-on-Hudson. (July 2008)

Deutsche Welle
Iraqi refugees condemn EU decision regarding their intake
Iraqi refugees living in Jordan denounced Friday, July 25 a move by Germany to postpone until September efforts to look into their case for asylum in the European Union. (July 2008)

Walter Pincus (Washington Post)
U.S. Can't Keep Up On Visas for Iraqis
In this article Walter Pincus sheds light on  the refugee problem the limited capacity of the US government to take in all those who worked with the US army or US contractors. (July 2008)

Steven Simon (Foreign Affairs)
The Price of the Surge
Steven Simon demonstrates how the Bush administration's new strategy in Iraq has helped to reduce violence, but lacks a sustainable plan for building a viable Iraqi state. The recent short-term gains have thus come at the expense of the long-term goal of a stable, unitary Iraq. (May/June 2008)

Karen DeYoung (Washington Post)
Stalwart Service for U.S. in Iraq Is Not Enough to Gain Green Card
Karen DeYoung discusses a case of an  Iraqi refugee whose green card application was rejected because he fought with Kurdish party trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and is therefore considered as being linked with to a terrorist organization. (23 March 2008)

BBC
Iraqis who fled abroad
Personal accounts of Iraqi refugees  speaking about their lives and aspirations. (17 March 2008)

Michael Howard (Guardian Unlimited)
A surge of their own: Iraqis take back the streets
Portait of the "Sahwa" forces that are funded by the US army to police the streets and neighborhoods of Baghdad. (December 2007)

Reinoud Leenders
When Do Refugees Bring Trouble? The Political Implications and Dimensions of the Iraqi Exodus Following the Samara Bombing
Paper Abstract  & briefing, presented at the conference The Challenges of Transformation in the Middle East, organized by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and Freie Universitat Berlin. (December 2007 )

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Yearender: Iraq enjoys more security but reconciliation still a dream
This document discuses the security status in Iraq and the chances of Iraqi refugees to return to their homes. ( December 2007)

Ian Pannell (BBC)
Heading back home to Iraq
Reportage that accompanies an Iraqi refugee living in Syria on his way back to Baghdad. ( December 2007)

Lina Sinjab (BBC)
Prostitution ordeal of Iraqi girls
Reportage on female Iraqi refugees in Syria who have to resort to prostitution in order to support their families. (December 2007)

Volker Perthes (Open Democracy)
Iraq in 2012: four scenarios
What will Iraq's future resemble - and under which US president? Volker Perthes, head of the Stiftung Wissenschaft and Politik think tank in Berlin, outlines four possible scenarios. ( September 2007)

Michael Howard (Guardian Unlimited)
Children of war: the generation traumatized by violence in Iraq
Michel Howard discusses how the children in Iraq cope with the abundance of violence, and how it affects their daily life. (February 2007)

Links

American University in Cairo
This site focuses on the Iraqi Refugees in Cairo offering articles and resources.

English Al Jazeera programs on Iraq

Guardian Unlimited: Iraqi Refugees

International Organization for Migration

Iraqi Body Count
Iraq Body Count is an ongoing human security project which maintains and updates a public database of violent civilian deaths during and since the 2003 invasion.

IRAQ INDEX
Tracking Reconstruction and Security
in Post-Saddam Iraq

Iraqi Refugees
Articles, multimedia (videos and photographs), documents and a collection of links on the Iraqi refugees compiled by the New York Times.

Refugees International
Activist Website containing a vast collection of material on the crisis.

The Washington Post - News and Background on Iraq

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq

Maps

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre provides maps that offer an overview over internal displacement in Iraq according to various categories. 

Numbers and Figures

Danish Refugee Council
Iraqi Population Survey in Lebanon (July 2005)

Iraqi Population Survey in Lebanon (November 2007)

International Organization for Migration
Lebanon: Facts and Figures

IPSOS
Second IPSOS Survey on Iraqi Refugees (November 2007)

Norwegian Research Institute
Iraqis in Jordan 2007: Their Number and Characteristics (2007)

UNHCR
The Refugee Story in Statistics

US Liberal Politics
Iraq War Results & Statistics as of Jan 16, 2008

Magazines

Forced Migration Review
Forced Migration Review is the world's most widely read magazine on refugee, internal displacement and statelessness issues.

Refugees Magazine
UNHCR magazine concerned with the refugees issues.

Studies and Reports

Amnesty International
Refugee crisis unfolds amid global apathy (September 2007)

Congressional Research Service
Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis? (2007)

Human Rights Watch
Nowhere to Flee - The Perilous Situation of Palestinians in Iraq (September 2006)

“The Silent Treatment” -Fleeing Iraq, Surviving in Jordan (November 2006)

Iraq: From a Flood to a Trickle (April 2007)

Rot Here or Die There- Bleak Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon (December 2007)

International Crisis Group
Failed Responsibility: Iraqi Refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon (July 2008)

Internal Displacement Monitoring Center
Iraq: a displacement crisis (March 2007)

International Medical Corps
Iraqis on the move: Sectarian displacement in Baghdad (January 2007)

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Assessment on Psychosocial Needs of Iraqis Displaced in Jordan and Lebanon (February 2008)

Iraqi Red Crescent Organization
Iraqi Returnees from Syria  (December 2007)

Frontiers (Ruwad) Association
Legality v. Legitimacy: Detention of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Lebanon (May 2006)

Refugee and Migration Protection in Lebanon (2007)

Georgetown University
Iraqi Refugees: Seeking stability in Syria and Jordan (July 2007)

MADRE
Promising democracy, Imposing theocracy: Gender-Based violence and the US War on Iraq

Middle East Institute
Iraq's Refugee and IDP Crisis: Human Toll and Implications (March 2008)

Refugees International
The World’s Fastest Growing displacement crisis (2007)

The Brookings Institute
Iraq Index: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq (2003 - present)

The Karama Movement in the Arab Region
Report on Refugee and Stateless Women across the Arab Region

UNHCR
Syria Update (May 2008)

Iraq Situation Update (April-May 2008)

Fortress Europe and the Iraqi 'intruders': Iraqi asylum-seekers and the EU, 2003-2007 (2007)

UNICEF Syria Emergency Response (Situation Report # 8)
Displaced Children and Women from Iraq  (March 2008)