Escaping Baghdad for Damascus: Last Hope for Iraqi Refugees

by Karen Button

Damascus--At the Al-Tanaf border crossing into Syria long lines of trucks, buses and American-made SUVs loaded with luggage sit idle while their passengers fill the customs offices waiting for permission to cross the frontier. Hundreds of Iraqis mill about the windy desert outpost waiting hours for their documents to be processed so they can enter one of the last countries to offer them safety from Iraq’s escalating violence.

The mood at the border is one of great weariness, mixed with sadness and plenty of resentment. “Why did you come to destroy my country?” demanded one man angrily. “I had to leave everything behind! Why don't the Americans just leave us!”

Many of the women here are wearing a black abaya, signaling they are in mourning. Um Abdullah pulls hers closer against the cold as she sits on the concrete steps in front of the building with her daughter and grandchildren waiting for her name to be called. “My two sons were killed in Baghdad,” she says shaking her head sorrowfully. “The other one who is in Syria begged us to leave. We didn’t want to go. It’s our home, but what can we do? Syria is our last hope.” Her daughter says she was a teacher in the capital city, but refuses to say anything else. “She is too afraid,” observes Um Abdullah.

Like most other Iraqis here, Um Abdullah paid her driver $400 for a seat in one of the six-passenger vehicles that brought her to Al-Tanaf. The 550km road between Baghdad and Damascus is fraught with danger; most drive only in daylight for fear of being looted, kidnapped or killed.

Hamid, one of the drivers, jokes about highway security checkpoints. “What has the Iraqi Army done to protect the road? They now use the head of the gangs . We really thank them because now the gangs are using uniforms so it’s easy to tell who they are,” he says sarcastically. “They have been given a police car and a uniform, so of course they will abuse it. One with this habit won’t quit. I witness this daily! The Americans do nothing. I’ll tell you what happened to me .”

While transporting passengers to Syria recently, Hamid says, “I was stopped by security police who were driving a GMC with luggage on top for cover. They were demanding our money when the Americans passed by and witnessed what was happening. When they questioned them, the police apologized and said they were trying to loot us just to make the local mujahadin think they were with them. Then they showed their badges to the Americans and everyone left.”

Fear the unifying factor
The incident highlights deeper issues driving the Iraqi exodus. With security forces part of the problem in a country fragmented by violence, fear is the unifying factor for the tens of thousands of Iraqis who run from their homes each month.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) up to 50,000 Iraqis flee monthly, about 10,000 of them seeking refuge outside the country.

At least 4 million Iraqis are now displaced in what Refugees International has termed the “fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world.” At least1.9 million Iraqis have escaped to neighboring communities inside Iraq, the rest have fled the country altogether. The Iraqi exodus is the largest movement of people in the region since the 1948 creation of Israel displaced millions of Palestinians, according to the UN.

Accurate figures on the number who’ve escaped Iraq is impossible to determine since only a fraction actually register with the UNHCR. In Syria for example, where the refugee agency says 1.2 million Iraqis have sought safe haven, only 72,000 have thus far registered. The Syrian government puts the number at 1.5 million, while aid organization estimates say there are closer to 2 million. The UN refugee agency expects 200,000 more Iraqis to arrive Syria by the end of the year.

As many as 4 million Iraqis are thought to have fled to countries throughout the region. Besides Syria and Jordan—where the UN puts the number at 750,000 and unofficial numbers estimate 1 million—Iraqis have also sought refuge in Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, the Gulf States, and Iran. All but Syria have effectively shut their doors.

In response some 60 nations attended a UNHCR-sponsored conference in Geneva this week to address the humanitarian crisis engulfing the Middle East. The Iraqi government pledged $25 million to assist the refugee support offices, while those countries hosting Iraqis promised to continue providing asylum, reported the UNHCR, whose aim was to elevate international attention to the disaster.

But in Jordan and Syria, where resources are already beleaguered, the strain is growing. Escalating rental prices reflect housing shortages. In Jordan Iraqis now make up nearly one-fifth of the population and officials have randomly closed their borders since November, leaving Syria the only sure exit route.

“We do thank the Syrian government,” smiles 65-year old Um Abdullah wearily as her family finally receives their documents and she gets up to leave for an uncertain future in Damascus. As she walks away another wave of new arrivals trudge across the wind-blown lot toward the customs building, clutching their travel documents in the waning light. They fill out pink entry forms, hand them over to officals, then are told to wait outside until another official calls their name from a small side window where hundreds of others also wait. And so the process continues, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, wave after wave of Iraqis seeking asylum.

Several hundred Palestinians from Iraq are not so fortunate. Some 350 are stuck in the Al-Tanaf camp just across the border in the so-called No Man’s Land, Syria refusing their entry. Another 300 are stranded in the Al-Hol camp just this side of Syria’s northern border with Iraq. Syria has been heavily criticized for allowing Iraqi nationals refuge while denying Palestinians targeted by sectarian Shi’a militias in Baghdad. Over half of the 30,000 Palestinians once in Baghdad have fled.

Seeking help not easy
Outside the sprawling month-old UNHCR facility in Damascus’s Douma district, close to two thousand Iraqis are lined up to gain an appointment for registration with the agency. Most began arriving at 6am, some slept overnight on the dusty pavement, blackened ground marking where last night’s warming fires burned.

Iraqis coming to Syria have escalated in recent months. According to Laurens Jolle, UNHCR representative for Syria, about 30,000 Iraqis arrive Syria monthly. “There are up to 4,000 people a day at the border and these numbers are increasing. One day in February 8,000 came to our offices. But, the exact number is not important,” he insists. “The real issue is for the international community to acknowledge and address the problem. Six months ago we had a huge number and there was little concern. Now, at least, there is some attention to the situation.”

In response to the humanitarian crisis, the UN allocated an additional $60 million to address the problem. But UNHCR Syria, which serves the largest number of displaced Iraqis in the region, received only $14 million, a little over $1 per person.

Another aid worker who spoke on condition of anonymity put it this way, “I believe there was a reticence and delay by authorities, even by the UNHCR, to acknowledge the situation. Nobody really cares about the human rights in the Arab world. All we have to do is look at the Palestinians and the Lebanese.”

Arriving Iraqis are encouraged by UNHCR to register with them, entitling the family to free medical care, access to services through the few aid agencies such as Caritas, and identifies the particulars for their situation. “We identify those who are most vulnerable,” says Jolle. “Unaccompanied minors, victims of torture, female heads of households and the disabled are all prioritized for protection,” he says, which includes seeking a sponsor country for asylum. “The most important thing is that they stay here and not be forced to return.”

At the Douma facility a community service center was also opened for medical emergencies because so many Iraqis arrive either wounded or with serious conditions, such as heart problems or kidney failure. Besides medical staff, a psychologist is also on board.

“It is a draconian situation in Iraq. Most Iraqis arrive here very traumatized,” says UNHCR Media Officer Adham Mardini. “Sometimes the psychological issue is even more immediate than the medical one.

“The international community needs to be sensitized. There is a growing social problem here; there is poverty which can lead to prostitution, there are psychological problems, and some people are receiving threats from Iraq.

“There are 1.2 million Iraqis in need here. The UNHCR cannot deal with this alone. The problem is the occupation, not the Syrian government or the UNHCR,” Mardini asserts. “Syria needs $1 billion to contain the Iraqi crisis.”

Underscoring Mardini’s comments, blowback from the US occupation occurred this week when several thousand Kurds arrived unexpectedly at the Douma office seeking registration. The refugee agency was caught completely unprepared without a Kurdish interpreter. With Kurdistan relatively calm, the few Kurds who’ve sought refuge have been mostly from Baghdad and speak Arabic. But, with Turkish troops recently massed along Iraq’s northern border, civilians fear an attack. Turkey has accused Iraq of allowing Kurdish guerilla groups seeking independent to launch attacks from Kurdistan. Last week the Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported Turkish troops had already crossed Iraq’s border to destroy “terrorist” camps.

Meanwhile, outside the UNHCR Douma facility thousands continue to line the dusty street every Sunday and Monday, the only days when appointments for registration interviews are given. On this particular morning appointments were being set for October, the earliest date possible. By the afternoon, interviews were being set for mid-November. Two hundred fifty appointments had been scheduled.