Delayed wave: Iraqi diaspora was slow to come, but now affects region

Published: 2007-04-13

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Four years into the war in Iraq, world governments and aid agencies are trying to deal with a refugee crisis that was forecast before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. In early 2003, representatives of international aid agencies warned that invading Iraq would lead to "a humanitarian crisis and increase civilian suffering, in addition to fueling regional instability," as the British Overseas Aid Group predicted. A Catholic Relief Services regional director told a congressional hearing to expect 900,000 Iraqis to flee the country. But the flow of refugees anticipated by aid agencies didn't develop, at least not in the beginning. Any plans to cope with Iraqis who ran to other countries went by the wayside; funds set aside to aid them were diverted to other needs. However, the number of fleeing Iraqis gradually increased as fighting dragged on and living conditions persisted at standards far worse than before the war. Then, when the February 2006 bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine in Samarra started a continuous wave of sectarian violence, tens of thousands of people began pouring over Iraq's borders monthly. Today an estimated 2 million Iraqis have sought refuge outside their country. Of those, more than 600,000 are Christians and other minorities.

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