When Prime Minister John Howard committed Australia to war in Iraq on 18 March 2003, we were told "it’s not likely to take a long period of time". We were also told that war was necessary to rid Iraq of its 'weapons of mass destruction'. No mention was made of the millions of ordinary Iraqis whose lives would be irrevocably altered by the actions of Australia and its coalition partners. Almost four years later, Australia’s military involvement in Iraq continues and no 'weapons of mass destruction' have been found. And still, the needs of the rapidly growing numbers of Iraqi refugees are being forgotten.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, the Iraq war has precipitated the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of the Palestinians in 1948. Of a total Iraqi population of 26 million, around 1.7 million Iraqis have been forced to move within their own country, while a similar number have fled to nearby countries.
The refugee crisis is the untold human story of the war in Iraq.
The flow of people out of and within Iraq has been unpredictable, making contingency plans difficult to implement. Predictions of a mass refugee exodus immediately after the March 2003 invasion proved to be initially unfounded. In fact, 300,000 Iraqis returned to their homeland between 2003 and 2006.
However, that trend shifted dramatically after a Shiite shrine in Samarra was bombed in February of 2006, igniting widespread killings between religious factions. According to the UNHCR, the escalating sectarian violence is forcing 50,000 people per month to leave their homes, and they predict the number of internally displaced people — those forced to leave their homes but not the country — could reach 2.7 million by the end of this year.
In this climate of religious hostility, Iraqi Christian minorities are particularly vulnerable. According to UNHCR, 40 percent of Iraqi refugees are Christian, though they make up only 4 percent of the nation’s total population.
President George W Bush has decided to send an additional 21,500 troops, signalling that the US (and Australian) presence will not end soon. The question must then be asked, what is being done to house, feed and clothe the millions of refugees created as a direct result of our military intervention? The answer, thus far, has been precious little.
The burden of providing protection to the Iraqi refugees is being