Three million uprooted Iraqis face "bleak future", UNHCR says

[Barrett808]

DAMASCUS, 22 October (IRIN) - More than three million Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes to other areas of Iraq and to neighbouring countries are facing what the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) describes as a "very bleak future" after the agency's budget for offices across the region was halved for the coming year.

Andrew Harper, coordinator for the Iraq unit at UNHCR in Geneva, told IRIN that funds for the agency's Iraq programme have been drastically reduced for 2007 because of donors scaling back their contributions.

As Iraq makes up a significant proportion of UNHCR's work in the Middle East, Lolles said this cut in funds for Iraq roughly halves a region-wide budget that is already "totally insufficient to provide tangible results".

"Iraq has seen the largest and most recent displacement of any UNHCR project in the world, yet even as more Iraqis are displaced and as their needs increase, the funds to help them are decreasing," said Harper. "This growing humanitarian crisis has simply gone under the radar screen of most donors."

Harper added that this reduction of funds had led to the suspension of a number of priority UNHCR projects. These include work to identify and aid the most vulnerable Iraqi refugees, including single mothers, the sick and the elderly.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/a3eca4b722faa10052fe47a33d29b706.htm

[TexasLawyer]

1. We force THEM to cut and run,

:sarcasm: so that WE don't have to. :sarcasm:

[RedSock]

2. rumsfeld

Rumsfeld: "Freedom's untidy. Free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They're also free to live their lives and do wonderful things, and that's what's going to happen here."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6132803/site/newsweek/

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. That's about 12% of the country

Of course, Bush won't stop until it's at least 95%.