Syria Today | Mikdad accuses Iraq of failing to do enough to assist refugees

Mikdad accuses Iraq of failing to do enough to assist refugees

Syria’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Faisal al-Mikdad has accused the Iraqi government of failing to do enough to help its citizens living in Syria as refugees. His comments came during a meeting between some 50 UN agencies and NGOs to launch the 2010 Regional Response Plan for Iraqi Refugees in Damascus on January 18.

“Ever since the Iraqi refugees began arriving in Syria in 2003, the Iraqi government, despite having the means, only gave USD 15m to help its citizens in Syria,” Mikdad said during a keynote speech at the meeting. “This is a small sum in comparison to the number of Iraqi refugees who number more than 1.5 million in Syria, and with the enormous capacity of the Iraqi government.”

Mikdad also called on the Iraqi government to create “better conditions” inside Iraq for refugees wishing to return home. “There must be a political will in Iraq to help,” he said, adding that Syria would not force any refugees to return home against their will. “Iraq should be welcoming to everyone, regardless of their religion, sect or political preference.”

At the meeting, which was chaired by the UNHCR and brought together aid agencies, NGOs and their government counterparts working across 12 countries, UN representatives said they still do not support the large-scale return of refugees, describing the situation in Iraq as “still volatile” and citing poor public services and scarce employment opportunities. They also noted that out of the 260,000 Iraqi refugees registered by the UNHCR in Syria, less than 1,000 have signed up to the agency’s voluntary repatriation programme.

The 2010 Regional Response Plan (RRP), which outlines inter-agency collaboration and acts as a reference for donors, specified four main objectives for 2010: to ensure Iraqi refugees are able to seek asylum and continue to receive protection, cover the basic needs of Iraqi refugees, support resettlement to third countries for refugees who are not able to return home and prepare for voluntary repatriation to Iraq when conditions are safe enough.

One of the plan’s essential goals is to close of Al-Tanf camp, which hosts some 1,000 Palestinian refugees and is located in no-man’s-land between the Syrian-Iraqi borders. Most of the refugees are expected to be resettled in north-eastern Syria at Al-Hol camp by the end of 2010, the IRIN website reported.

In Syria, the plan also includes expanding support for refugees living in rural areas, many of whom are now starting to suffer the effects of the country’s three-year drought. It also aims to enroll an additional 12,000 Iraqi children in Syrian schools, noting a higher drop-out rate in recent years due to the deteriorating financial conditions of many families.

According to official Syrian figures, some 1.5 million Iraqis are still living as refugees in Syria. Iraq disputes this, saying there are only 206,000 refugees in the country. Independent estimates put the number somewhere in the region of 800,000.