Andrew Harper leads the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees operation in Iraq. He recently returned from assessing the situation of Iraqis, both displaced inside Iraq and in surrounding countries.
How are Iraqis coping in the U.S.?
Although I’m probably not the best person to answer this, we all know it’s a difficult situation for most people in the United States, particularly those people coming here without the necessary skill sets, and to be looking for work in any industrialized country is difficult when you don’t have the linkages and support.
How has the influx of Iraqis to surrounding countries changed over the last couple of years?
We have put in place a program of support (in hosting countries) which is much more comprehensive that it was two years ago. ... If you are a refugee, you are never going to be totally compensated for the cost of leaving, so every day that passes, Iraqis are becoming more and more destitute in Syria and Jordan and elsewhere because many of them have had to sell their homes, cars and jewelry, take loans from friends or relatives so they could support their stay as refugees. As times goes on, each one of these becomes much more desperate.
Even today we are still seeing Iraqis leaving Iraq because of continuing insecurity and issues with human rights. So while the overall security indicators have improved, the threat for many Iraqis in Iraq still exists. That particularly goes for a number of minorities, (whether) it be religious or ethnic.
When Iraqis leave Iraq to surrounding countries, are they granted refugee status automatically?
We consider all Iraqis who come from the center (of Iraq) to come across as refugees. As far as international law is concerned, they are refugees.
How quickly are Iraqis being resettled in other countries, including the United States?
The United States has been quite good in recent times in relation to the movement of most vulnerable Iraqis. The issue is that resettlement is not open for everyone, it is reserved for people we don’t believe have the possibility of return and who are extremely vulnerable in their current location.
We refer to the U.S. and other resettlement states those people who are the most vulnerable, and while they might have (had) a relatively slow start, the movement of Iraqis to resettlement countries has picked up quite quickly.
What is the situation for Iraqis still in Iraq who don’t qualify for refugee status?
It depends on who you are in Iraq. The situation for many Iraqis is extremely challenging. There is an issue of basic access to public services, employment, provision of electricity — still, electricity is about four hours a day, and that’s an improvement — quality of water, education, because many teachers fled Iraq. The fact that you have at least over 1 million people who were forced out of their homes and are being displaced within Iraq, a government ... still struggling to meet the expectations of its population, and you’ve got a security situation which is far from stable. It’s extremely difficult for many minorities in Iraq. The situation has improved on many fronts, but in many other ways, it’s extremely challenging.
How will it affect Iraqis when the U.S. forces leave Iraq?
We have to work more urgently than before in relation to make sure the conditions are in place so, if there is a withdrawal, there is sufficient humanitarian development in place. As far as UNHCR is concerned, it is extremely difficult to work in South Iraq. It’s very difficult to predict what will happen leading up to August 2010. We have to do much more than what we are doing to assist the Iraqis and ensure the most vulnerable people are provided with protection and assistance.
What can the United Nations do?
One thing is to provide objective oversight and technical assistance to the government for when Iraqis return. We are talking about a country (that has) gone through quite a traumatic experience in relation to 2003, but previous to that suffered 12 years of sanctions. Some of the infrastructure needs to be completely replaced. A lot of the skilled Iraqis who fled, we need to establish conditions for them to return and stay there.
How can Iraq care for Iraqis returning when they lack the infrastructure for those already there?
The good thing about Iraq is that it has resources, it has a relatively skilled population ... The recent decrease in violence has created the opportunity in which the government can get to work in improving the infrastructure and provision of services, but again they are somewhat restricted by the magnitude of the challenges in front of them. The water system in Baghdad has to probably be completely replaced, the electricity system, the sewer system. How do you retrain the teachers, the doctors that are required? How do you ensure that government work is put back in place? It is not going to be simple, but we have to be optimistic that Iraq will start making progress in the right way.
How much of a problem is the number of Iraqis fleeing illicitly to Greece or other European countries?
People smuggling, the movement of populations outside of the region, is a big issue. One of the problems is that when Iraqis try to leave Syria, Jordan or Lebanon illicitly and go to Turkey or Greece or Europe, they become more vulnerable. They become pawns in the smuggling game, and it is very difficult to ensure they are being provided with protection and assistance.
How would you summarize the current situation in Iraq?
While the security situation has improved in South Iraq, the level of threat for many Iraqis, particularly for minorities, (is still high), and they are going to be in continuing need of assistance and protection in surrounding states.
While UNHCR is becoming more engaged in South Iraq, we cannot forget there are still hundreds of thousands, if not more than 1 million, Iraqis outside Iraq who are going to need continued protection and assistance. So we need to make sure we provide the basic needs so they are not forced to return.
At the current situation, we are stating that the conditions are still not satisfying for mass return. We are not promoting return to Iraq. The biggest indicator of whether the situation is improving is when you start having significant return of Iraqi refugees, and we are not seeing that at the moment.
