According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the restrictions in 11 out of 18 Iraqi governorates have made it increasingly difficult for Iraqis fleeing violence and lawlessness to find refuge within the country. Many of the country's more than 2.2 million IDPs are unable to access shelter and other basic services, the IOM said. Moreover, Syria and Jordan have allegedly begun imposing tighter visa restrictions on Iraqi refugees as well. Rafiq Tschannen, IOM's chief of mission in Iraq, said that increasing restrictions on the entry and registration of newly displaced Iraqis leave them without a place to go.
Meanwhile, the UNHCR appealed anew to the international community for greater help to Syria and Jordan, whose resources have been stretched by the influx of almost two million Iraqi refugees.
Iraqi refugees in Cairo and Jordan, particularly those who risked their lives to work for the Americans in Iraq, are said to be increasingly confused, frustrated and angry over the slow progress of their repatriation to the US. Refugees who are vying for slots for permanent asylum in the US need to go through a grueling round of interviews and background checks. According to Ellen Sauerbrey, head of the US State Department's refugee office, some 400 Iraqis had been admitted for resettlement in the US over the past month. This is a marked improvement over the 190 who were accepted from January to July this year. Originally, Washington vowed to review the cases of some 7,000 Iraqis who had been identified as refugees by the UN by the end of September this year. However, the target has since been reduced to a modest 2,000 by this month's end.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and its Migration Minister Tobias Billstroem arrived in Baghdad on 1 September to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. The meeting was expected to tackle Sweden's strict asylum policies for Iraqi refugees. Bildt later told a press conference that Sweden has accepted the largest number of Iraqi refugees in Europe. At present, there are currently between 80,000 and 120,000 Iraqis in Sweden, making them the second largest foreign population in the country after the Finns.
Indian workers stranded in Iraq
Lok Bhalai Party (LBP) chief Balwant Singh Ramoowalia revealed that some 300 Indians had been smuggled to Iraq despite promises by unscrupulous travel agents that they would be deployed in Dubai or Kuwait. The LBP accused the government of failing to check the illegal activities of these travel agents. According to Ranjit Singh, one of nine migrant workers who managed to return from Iraq on 31 August, he and 24 others were initially taken to Dubai. However, after only a few hours they were allegedly brought to Iraq where they were put to work refueling vehicles. Singh said it took him three months' salary to purchase a return ticket to India but other migrant workers who sent all their earnings back home were left stranded in Iraq, living under "extremely risky" conditions.
Sources: "300 Indian youths stranded in Iraq: LBP," The Times of India, 1 September 2007; AFP, "UN says Syria, Jordan need help with Iraqi influx," Borneo Bulletin, 2 September 2007; AFP, "200 media employees killed since 2003," Borneo Bulletin, 2 September 2007; AFP, " Sweden spells out stricter rules for Iraq refugees," Borneo Bulletin, 3 September 2007; AP, "Hundreds displaced in northern Iraq," The Daily Star, 3 September 2007; AP, "Iraqis see slow progress to U.S. asylum," USA Today, 3 September 2007; Reuters, "Many displaced Iraqis left with no place to go," The Peninsula, 8 September 2007