The Plight of Iraqis

Life has been hard for many Iraqi refugees. They flee their homes in the thousands each day to reach unwelcoming neighboring countries that do not have enough room or resources for them.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is leading the effort to help these refugees with food, jobs, health care, and education. Accomplishing this mission, however, has become increasingly difficult for the UNHCR due to a lack of funds and the recent spike in food and energy prices. Many Iraqi refugees now face a very precarious future.

This dire situation, however, is not the case for all Iraqi refugees. Especially in Jordan, some Iraqis have found that their lives have actually improved away from the conflict-torn Iraq. A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor recounts the stories of Iraqi refugees who have been able to start over and even establish their own businesses in Jordan.

These Iraqi refugees have the training and resources to start over because many of the roughly half-million Iraqis in Jordan are from the well-educated middle class. A study by the Norwegian Research Institute Fafo of Iraqis in Jordan found that 46 percent of adult males and 42 percent of adult females have some type of university degree.

UNHCR is promoting awareness and raising concerns about the most vulnerable of the 4.7 million Iraqis who are either refugees or have been internally displaced. Equal concern should also be given to the most valuable — those who, by departing, drain Iraq of the brains needed to rebuild.