Nothing to go back to, no place of their own

[unhappycamper]

Nothing to go back to, no place of their own
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, January 25, 2009

BAGHDAD — Jabar Abu Abdullah once had a good job — guarding a farm in Sab al Bor — and a trailer to live in.

But like many Iraqis, he fled his home four years ago when sectarian fighting broke out. Now, unlike those countrymen who are returning to their old neighborhoods as the violence subsides, Abdullah remains in the Baghdad slum of Chirkuk, operating a closet-sized general store.

“I don’t own anything, so I can’t go back,” he said.

Most reports on Iraqis who fled sectarian fighting have focused on those who want to reclaim their homes. Yet masses of displaced Iraqis have no homes to return to, and no desire to return to the areas where they once lived.

They’ve settled illegally on government land, built homes out of whatever was handy and refuse to move on. While the Iraqi government has had widespread success resettling those with homes, this group of internally displaced people, or IDP, is proving to be an altogether different problem. Baghdad province itself has an estimated 100,000 squatters.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60231

[ColbertWatcher]

1. This is disgraceful. Just another mess left behind by the Incompetents. n/t

[Control-Z]

2. I can hardly bear to hear these stories

And it reminds me, the same thing is happening here in bigger number than I can fathom. Foreclosures, layoffs, the worst economy possibly ever...all thanks to 8 years of Bush. Why we continue to give voice to republicans on anything, at this point, is beyond me.

[Vincardog]

3. You can't blame it ALL on aWoL. It is the result of 28 years of RAy Gun Omics.

Put the blame where it belongs on the corrupt "CONservative policies.