IRAQ: Call for more help for Iraqi refugees

Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 16 July 2008 (IRIN) - A group of Iraqi non-governmental organisations (NGOs) appealed on 14 July for more support from the Iraqi government, the UN and the international community for Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries.

“There is an obvious violation of the rights of the Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries - mainly Jordan, Syria and Lebanon - as their needs have not been met properly,” said Basil al-Azawi, head of the Iraqi Commission for Civil Society Enterprises, a coalition of over 1,000 Iraqi NGOs inside and outside Iraq.

“Like other international reports, ours has shown clear negligence by the Iraqi government which doesn’t support these refugees properly - either directly by giving them money and/or help in receiving food rations, or indirectly by helping their host countries,” al-Azawi said.

“The UN, for its part, is not putting sufficient pressure on neighbouring countries and international donors to increase their support for the refugees, or press other countries to offer a safe haven to these refugees,” he said.

Read more: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=79280

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