The Iraqi Diaspora

Nick Kristof aptly referred to refugees of the Iraq War as “the new Palestinians, the 21st-century Arab diaspora that threatens the region’s stability.” America’s inadequate response to the 2 million refugees (and the additional 2 million internally displaced persons) created by its 2003 invasion of Iraq is inconsistent with both our founding ideals and martial precedent.

As Morton Abramowitz detailed several months ago in an LA Times op-ed, the contrast between America’s handling of refugees of the Vietnam War and those fleeing today’s violence in Iraq could not be starker. In the 1970’s and ‘80’s, some 2 million Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians fled Southeast Asia due to war and economic strife. Impelled by guilt and pressure to regain some of its moral footing, the U.S. welcomed 1.2 million of these Indochinese refugees and sent aide to countries affected by the human efflux. Collective guilt was a powerful impetus then, but is in short supply now. You can add a “deficit of remorse” to the list of deficits accrued by the Bush Administration. Given a final chance in exit interviews to reflect on what he has bequeathed the Middle East, President Bush hasn’t changed his tune, whistling Je ne regrette rien all the way back to Dallas.

But outside the self-deception and legacy burnishing going on in the White House, countless Iraqi refugees languish in the dilapidated neighborhoods of Amman and Damascus. These Iraqis embody the “unwanted” stigma of the refugee: Jordan and Syria don’t want to provide aide out of fear of becoming permanent asylums; Iraq’s Shi'a leaders have shown little concern for the plight of the mostly Sunni refugees; and the United States is reluctant to acknowledge unintended collateral damage in its role as “liberator”. But international watchdogs and relief agencies consider the Iraqi diaspora among the world’s most daunting humanitarian challenges. Washington needs to recognize its moral obligation and, just as we did during the First Gulf War with the resettlement of Iraqi Kurds, ensure safe repatriation for refugees who wish to return to Iraq. Furthermore, post-9/11 immigration restrictions need to be amended so that the U.S. is welcoming more Iraqi refugees every year than Sweden. This falls on Congress as much as the Administration. In May of 2007, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) introduced the “Responsibility to Iraqi Refugees Act” (H.R. 2265), a commendable bill that would have increased the number of Iraqi refugees eligible for resettlement in the United States in 2007-08 by 20,000. Republicans were deplorably unsupportive of the bill, however, and it is now collecting dust in a subcommittee. If we really are to reap what we sowed in Iraq, it is up to the next administration and Congress to work in concert to ensure a safe haven for Iraq’s refugees.