As an estimated 40,000-50,000 Iraqis flee their countries each month, governments in the region are reluctant to acknowledge that they are dealing with a full-blown refugee crisis. Kristele Younes writes in Foreign Policy in Focus that the United Nations estimates 2.3 million Iraqis have left since 2003. As a result, there is a ‘strong need’ for host nations to sponsor programs (funded by the UN and donor governments) that will address the needs of this refugee population. ‘Iraqis who are unable to flee the country are now in a queue, waiting their turn to die,’ is how one Iraqi journalist summarizes conditions in Iraq today. While the US debates whether a civil war is raging in Iraq, thousands of Iraqis face the possibility of death every day all over the country. All Iraqis, whether Sunni, Shi’a, Christian, or other groups such as the Palestinian, are threatened by armed actors. People are targeted because of religious affiliation, economic status, and profession – many, such as doctors, teachers, and even hairdressers, are viewed as being ‘anti-Islamic.’ On a recent mission to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, Refugees International documented dozens of stories of […]