UN debunks Bush Admin claims - Says there is no large amount of Refugees returning to Iraq

[ck4829]

he United Nations refugee agency on Friday expressed concerns over reports Iraqi refugees are returning to the country, particularly from neighbouring Syria, saying there was no large-scale movement.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees "does not believe that the time has come to promote, organise or encourage returns" given the volatile and unpredictable security situation in Iraq, spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told journalists.

"Presently, there is no sign of any large-scale return to Iraq," she added.

More than 1.4 million Iraqis have fled to Syria since the US-led invasion of 2003, but they are coming under increased bureaucratic and financial pressure as the country's social infrastructure struggles with the influx.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gk3604xpjrJp2zCqN1N7ks7tltGg

[babylonsister]

1. I don't see the US or * admin mentioned in that. How about the UK?

Thse stories are contradicting each other. :shrug:


http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2214918,00.html

Iraqi refugees start to head home


After exodus of 4.2m since 2003, government says 1,600 a day are returning

Ian Black, Middle East editor
Thursday November 22, 2007
The Guardian

Slowly, cautiously, but unmistakably, thousands of Iraqis who moved abroad to escape the violence are going home, stemming an exodus that has seen 4.2 million people leave since the 2003 war. According to the Iraqi government, 46,000 returned from abroad to Baghdad in October - the first month of the new school year, though it has not produced a statistical breakdown.

Iraq's displacement and migration minister, Abdul Samad Sultan, said this week that 1,600 people were returning every day. The UNHCR, the world body's refugee agency, said yesterday it could not confirm the figure because it has no permanent access to the border - though a day of monitoring suggested it could be true. But a spokesperson in Geneva said: "For the first time Iraqis are actually discussing return, which was not the case a few months ago."

Baghdad is keen to highlight the numbers coming back, to demonstrate that the nine-month-old US-Iraqi "surge" to quell sectarian violence is working. But the UN agency and the Iraqi Red Crescent both counted 2.3 million internally displaced people during September. Both are sceptical about the figures from the government.

Strained resources

Iraqi officials say most returnees come from Syria, where an estimated 1.4 million refugees have fled. Their return is attributed to a combination of improving security, especially in Baghdad, Iraqi official encouragement, and the unwillingness of Syria to continue to pick up the tab for an exodus which has put a huge strain on its resources.

more...

[rocktivity]

2. The ones who are returning to Iraq are the ones who can't AFFORD

to REMAIN refugees.

:(
rocknation

[TexasProgresive]

3. Riverbend discribes what might be the real truth-

We chose a hot day in early September and drove the six hours to Kameshli, a border town in northern Syria. My aunt and her son came with us- they also needed an extension on their visa. There is a border crossing in Kameshli called Yaarubiya. It’s one of the simpler crossings because the Iraqi and Syrian borders are only a matter of several meters. You walk out of Syrian territory and then walk into Iraqi territory- simple and safe.

When we got to the Yaarubiya border patrol, it hit us that thousands of Iraqis had had our brilliant idea simultaneously- the lines to the border patrol office were endless. Hundreds of Iraqis stood in a long line waiting to have their passports stamped with an exit visa. We joined the line of people and waited. And waited. And waited…

It took four hours to leave the Syrian border after which came the lines of the Iraqi border post. Those were even longer. We joined one of the lines of weary, impatient Iraqis. “It’s looking like a gasoline line…” My younger cousin joked. That was the beginning of another four hours of waiting under the sun, taking baby steps, moving forward ever so slowly. The line kept getting longer. At one point, we could see neither the beginning of the line, where passports were being stamped to enter Iraq, nor the end. Running up and down the line were little boys selling glasses of water, chewing gum and cigarettes. My aunt caught one of them by the arm as he zipped past us, “How many people are in front of us?” He whistled and took a few steps back to assess the situation, “A hundred! A thousand!”. He was almost gleeful as he ran off to make business.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

Thousands of Iraqis reentering Iraq only to exit back to Syria. And no doubt this was happening at a lot of border crossings. They sure know how to lie don't they.

[mile18blister]

4. Wish I had access to this article yesterday.

When I had to spend Thanksgiving with my RW brother-in-law who was pointing to returning Iraqis as proof that things are getting better in Iraq. He's not the type of guy who will listen to an argument unless I can give sources. I never watch TV "news" so I usually avoid watching the propaganda he does.

Happy Thanksgiving. Blech.

[DCKit]

5. There have been claims from the WH and their talking heads about returnees....

To prove the surge is working. That they're only parsing the truth this time is a major policy shift and, given their penchant or lying every time their lips move, it's probably sticking in their throats.

Iraqi's are leaving Syria because their visas are running out, but are returning to Syria as soon as they possibly can.

That the M$M was able to find a couple of actual returnees to interview proves NOTHING. We've all seen "Wag the Dog" and it wouldn't take more than a couple hundred dollars to get nearly any Irqi to repeat whatever talking points they were paid to spout for the cameras.