IRAQ: Refugees could fuel regional instability, experts say

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Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 20 June 2008 (IRIN) - As World Refugee Day is marked on 20 June, Iraqi experts have been urging the government and international community to do more to help the large number of Iraqi refugees in the Middle East.

“Day after day Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries are getting more frustrated by the harsh conditions in which they live. Sooner or later they are going to have a negative impact on the stability of the whole region,” said member of parliament (MP) Abdul-Khaliq Zankana, head of parliament’s Migration and Displacement Committee.

“Most of them are unemployed and deprived of health care and education, even though their country is oil-rich. This situation will lead them to lose faith in their country; they could become easy prey to organised criminal gangs in their host countries or terrorist groups,” Zankana told IRIN.

Zankana predicted the Iraqi refugee and displacement problem could take 8-10 years to resolve, given the security situation and the conflict in Iraq. He urged the government and the international community to adopt a comprehensive strategy to help the refugees return to their homes.

Read more: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=78841