A country that vehemently opposed the war and didn't bend it's Arab ass to be used as a military outpost, is paying the heaviest price for it-and a poor Arab country at that! Syria! I mean it's pockets are lined with...wait what does Syria have in plentiful production? Oh yeah, fisto ahdar! Suffices to say, they not are sitting on comfy cushions rested on top of oil fields or piles of dough from USAID-ahem Mubarassment and King Abdummba!
In an article on the Seattle Post Intelligencer's website entitled "Syria sinking in flood of refugees from Iraq," astonishing figures regarding the refugee situation in a Syrian context are brought to light:
So, if there are an estimated 2.6 million Iraqi refugees, and approximately 1.5 million have settled in Syira, that comes to over 50%-around 57-58% of the worldwide population(yeah Arab math genes for quicker-than-an-abacass- "in my head" calculations!) of Iraqi refugees living in Syria right now. This is a startling statistic considering other statistics Syria is trying to grapple with-namely limited resources. Let me not forget to mention the fact that when when I last visited Damascus, there was a water and electricity shortage situation (exceeding regional averages in power outages and water shortages by almost double), that limited the use and access of aforementioned utilities. How is Syria going to handle a ballooning population with such limited resources and aid? And why is a country with abundance only accepting 1,608 Iraqi refugees for a war it started to "save the Iraqi people"????
- 2.6 million Iraqis have fled their homeland since the start of the war in 2003.
- Syria has taken in 1.5 million Iraqi refugees from 2003 to present
- Iraqi refugees make up about 10 percent of Syria's population.
- There are 1 million refugees alone in Syria's capital, Damascus.
- The refugees are costing the government $1.6 billion per year in free education, health care and other benefits.
- Of the 1,608 Iraqi refugees admitted by the United States (as Hanaan mentioned),, only 242 came from Syria.
- While the UNHCR referred 4,004 Iraqi refugees in Syria for resettlement in the United States in 2007.
- The United States is spending $1 billion a day on the war in Iraq, while it has contributed only $70 million to aid refugees.
8 comments:
Oh, Boo fuckin' hoo.
The Syrians deserve a lot worse than having to care for refugees that they helped to create.
Syrian Officer Says Orders for Slaughter Came From Syria
Iraqi Terrorist: Syria and Iran Aid Us
Iraqi terrorist describes the role Syrians played in operations
When Iraq rises again and a full accounting of this war is made, Syria will be at the top of a very long shit list.
May, do you know if the Iraqi refugee kids in Syria were allowed to attend public school? All of them or just ones with legal status? Because this is the first year that the Iraqi kids have been allowed to attend public schools in Jordan. Until this year it's been makeshift substandard classes in churches and other places like this, and that was only reaching a small number of the kids. And it's kind of huge since Jordan definitely asked for aid to help them incorporate the kids. (which they SHOULD do, but which syria didn't do and still incorporated the kids...)
Syria won't have to handle the load of refugees for long. Tens of thousands have been returning to Iraq.
The Syrians deserve a lot worse than having to care for refugees that they helped to create.
ACTUALLY, only like 6% of foreign fighters in Iraq were found to be from Syria, like 41% are from Saudi Arabia, the next two biggest contingents are Libya and Yemen. and this place called America.
Anyways, they're not dealing with it, or they've dealt with it as much as they could, because they put their visa restrictions on Iraqis last October, and the government stated explicitly that it's because they have no help in supporting them. Syria's still going to be "dealing with it" regardless no matter what, it's Iraqis that are losing.
May, do you know if the Iraqi refugee kids in Syria were allowed to attend public school?
They're allowed, but few do, the Syrian government says about 30,000 are enrolled. In Jordan they most certainly were not, untill this summer when the US gave them a couple of hundred million dollars and they're supposed to be in school now, I have no idea how many actually are. Child labour is also really common among refugees.
Syria won't have to handle the load of refugees for long. Tens of thousands have been returning to Iraq.
Largely because of destitution(aren't allowed to work) and visa restrictions. Meanwhile the numbers of internally displaced have quadrupled to over 2 million, and the ones returning home aren;t returning to their actual homes so they're still displaced. Plus they can't even most to other provinces anymore. I know right?
Plus they can't FLEE to many provinces anymore. yesh, what a mangled sentence. Hey, sup?
Nadia, it's true that most foreign terrorists in Iraq are not Syrian (which constitute 8% of all foreign jihadis).
However, it is well known that the flow of money, weapons and terrorists flows largely THROUGH Syria, and is largely unopposed by the security forces. As mentioned in one of the YouTube videos I posted, the remaining operational Iraqi Baath leadership is in Syria, as are the training camps that prepare men to "slaughter" human beings.
You're right, however, in pointing out that the foreign jihadis are being fed mostly from the Gulf and Maghreb, while the financing, I think we can all safely assume, is coming from Saudi Arabia.
As I said, it will be a very long shit list.
Iraqi TV (what you linked to) really isn't very reliable. They're largely owned by political parties and are hella sectarian, I don't know who owns Fayhaa TV but basically every independent station, and many many newspapers has been shut down for being critical of the goverment in one fashion or another. I think Sharqiya is the only independent station left, but I'm not too sure if they're still around or not, so don't quote me on that.
There's also tons of Baathies in Jordan, the leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq were Jordanian for lord knows how long. Funny how nobody's concerned about them.
nadia,
I am concerned about them.
seriously, thanks for your insights.
Will
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