Appeal Launched to Support Displaced Iraqis

by George Arende, ACT International

Amman, Jordan, July 30, 2007 - The global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International launched a $873,259 (US) appeal on July 27, 2007, for Iraqi refugees in neighboring states Jordan and Syria, as well as for people displaced internally within Iraq.

Syria and Jordan are struggling to host some 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled their country over the last four years. The mass exodus and internal displacement of people have been brought on by escalating sectarian conflict combined with the presence of foreign troops. Earlier this month the news agency Reuters quoted a UN refugee agency spokesperson as saying that massive displacement of Iraqis, internally and externally, continues unabated. Estimates put the number of people fleeing the violence at 2,000 daily.

Wafa Goussous, who is based in Jordan and works for local ACT member Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), explains that Iraqis arriving in Jordan are not allowed to work. “It means that the majority of the Iraqi refugees depend on support from aid agencies and relatives living abroad.”

The situation in Syria, where more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees have sought shelter, isn’t much different. Samer Lahham, who heads up the Damascus MECC office, says, “Many families have been affected by the war in Iraq. It is important that we show solidarity with the people in addressing the situation in Syria.”

Along with MECC, other ACT members responding in the region are International Christian Orthodox Charities (IOCC) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA).

IOCC’s regional director explains the difficult situation Iraqis find themselves in, not only as refugees in neighboring countries, but also if they remain in Iraq. “Families inside Iraq do not have anything to live on. They are stuck, (often) with no relatives abroad to help and support them.”

Fear of the Future

Ahmed Kadhim* is an engineer who lives with his family in Baghdad. He says that to live in the city is to be steeped in violence, mayhem and constant grief.

“Life is dangerous for everyone, regardless of who you are,” he says, his face lined with sorrow and anxiety. He says that every day when his daughter goes to college, “I fear for her life.” Ahmed and his family are concerned with what they say is a new wave of violence in Iraq.

Fuheis, a suburb in the western part of the city of Amman, is occupied by some sixty percent of the Iraqi refugees living in Jordan. Many apartments are now home to more than one family. Brenita* and her four children left Iraq because the situation proved to be too harsh to bear. “I lived in Baghdad, but there were no jobs, we got death threats, my children were not safe, and they did not have a future.”

Children and women are particularly vulnerable in situations of conflict. Brenita’s story echoes that of many others. Her sister is also the sole parent of her three children. Both the sisters’ husbands left years ago, in an attempt to seek asylum in Europe. To their knowledge, neither husband managed to reach his intended destination. Brenita last heard from her husband six years ago; Benita, from her husband, 13 years ago.

The sisters agree, “Life is hard in Jordan, but we prefer living here than to being dead in Iraq.”

ACT Members’ Commitment and Response

IOCC has been providing support to Iraqis since 2003. Its regional director, George Antoon, explains that if people manage to flee the violence in Iraq, they can find themselves caught in a bureaucratic nightmare, where governments place restrictive conditions on both local and foreign NGOs’ assistance. In Jordan, for instance, Iraqi refugees are referred to as ‘visitors’, an action that can hamper and derail the support they receive. IOCC has now approached the Red Crescent to look at jointly implementing programs as a safeguard against these restrictive measures.

In Iraq, NCA has been supporting communities for a decade now, both in Baghdad and in the south, in Basra. Support focuses on providing access to safe water through water and sanitation programs, and the rehabilitation of water treatment plants and booster stations. NCA also supports several hospitals and five youth centers.

NCA’s acting representative in the region, Heidi Thorstensen, who works from Jordan, explains that the agency’s youth centers mainly provide a “safe haven” for children, allowing them to attend school. “We have activities for both boys and girls, regardless of their faith background. The centers are seen as a source of hope for unity in a country.”

NCA has also renovated schools and gardens in four villages in the deeply impoverished and neglected Marsh Arab areas and supported workshops aimed at empowering women in the areas of human rights and advocacy. These workshops have benefited some 180 women so far.

In Jordan, MECC, in partnership with U.S.-based ACT member Church World Service (CWS), is distributing clothes, toys, blankets and educational items to Iraqi refugees in Jordan. MECC’s aim is to provide emergency relief to some 400 Iraqi refugees. In Iraq, MECC still supports an art school and continues to work with the support of New Zealand ACT member CWS to distribute pediatric medicines. Last year, MECC implemented a cash grant program, supporting 485 families with these small grants.

* Names were changed for reasons of personal security.