U.N. urges more help for Iraq refugees

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Source: AP - Yahoo

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that countries involved in the Iraq war have a "moral obligation to do more" to accommodate the growing number of Iraqis fleeing their homeland.

The U.N. humanitarian chief, John Holmes, said the United States should allow more Iraqi refugees in, saying Washington was not doing enough about the crisis.

Ban said he planned to bring up the issue in discussions with leaders of countries involved in the war. Many will be attending a high-level meeting on Iraq at U.N. headquarters on Saturday and next week's U.N. General Assembly ministerial meeting.

Neighboring Syria and Jordan were struggling to accommodate fleeing Iraqis at a rate of 15,000 per week, "an enormous number of refugees," Ban said.

"In that regard, parties involved I think have some moral obligation to do more for those refugees," the U.N. chief told a news conference.

Refugee advocacy groups say Iraqis are the fastest growing refugee population in the world and have criticized the U.S. for not shouldering enough of the burden.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070919/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_iraq_refugees;_ylt=AiopKE834Ql5MDIcGWyBH_BvaA8F

[pinto]

1. The silent toll of the civil war/occupation - other than the truly silent, the dead.

Thanks for posting Ban Ki-moon's statements.