What the U.S. Government Can Learn From Three 22-Year Olds on Taking Action For Iraqi Refugees
By Courtney E. Martin, AlterNet.
At least 4.8 million Iraqi refugees are struggling for every day survival. We don't have time for more reports or pretty graphs. We must act now.
When President Barack Obama made his first sojourn to Iraq as commander-in-chief earlier this month, he was met with cheering U.S. troops and even, a new experience for our nation's leader as of late, a fairly warm response from Iraqis themselves (at least no shoes flew). Iraqis tuned in on home television sets and gathered at local cafes to watch President Obama, alongside Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, at Camp Victory. But while Obama addressed the next year of big changes within Iraq, he made no mention of what is in store for those outside of it: the two million Iraqi refugees who have fled the violence and struggle in neighboring countries. As we withdraw troops in Iraq and continue the critical discussion about what real recovery means for the region, we must not overlook the massive refugee population -- so many women and children among them. The United Nations reports that about 4.8 million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes.
Last month, the Government Accountability Office issued a report for Congress titled Key Issues for Congressional Oversight. A paltry two out of the 56 pages of the report were devoted to the critical issue of Iraqi refugees: "The lack of reliable needs estimates impedes U.S. and international efforts to assist Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria. Neither country has enabled an independent and comprehensive survey of refugees to be undertaken." In other words, since the Jordanian and Syrian governments aren't painting an accurate picture of the needs of Iraqi refugees, we don't have the wherewithal to use our own imagination.
This would be a reasonable attitude if we were talking about a non-acute problem -- say, building an infrastructure for the Iraqi transportation system. Information gathering and strategic planning are generally the foundations of sound policy. But we're not talking about roads and bridges here; we're talking about living, breathing human beings who are right this moment struggling to find food for lunch, a school for their kids to go to tomorrow morning, and access to contraception so their family burden doesn't grow any larger. We don't have time to waste on pretty graphs. We need to help Iraqi refugees now.
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