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John Metzler Archive
Thursday, December 06, 2007

Road back from Damascus: More good news from Iraq

UNITED NATIONS — Nobody wants to be a refugee. Nobody wishes to flee his homeland. So when I heard that Iraqi civilians who fled the violence and insecurity of their homeland and now beginning to return to their country, I took cautious cheer. Now 800 Iraqi civilians left in a bus convoy from Damascus, Syria and returned to Baghdad. What was first a trickle, could soon hopefully become a stream of returnees from Syria back to Baghdad.

Though there are many reasons for returning to Iraq, there’s little doubt that the improving security situation inside the country is a major factor. Just recently the British BBC-TV, usually critical and sometimes shrill towards the multinational military mission in Iraq, aired a surprisingly positive story on the effects of the American troop surge as having positively changed the situation on the ground and improved day-to-day life in Baghdad.

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According to another report by correspondent Jim Muir, “All across Baghdad, which has seen the worst of the violence, streets are springing back to life. Shops and restaurants which closed down are back in business. People walk in crowded streets in the evening, when just a few months ago they would have been huddled behind locked doors in their homes. Everybody agrees that things are much better.”

While this is not a firm guarantee for the future, there are clearly positive trends which point to long sought stability and security. Thus many of the Iraqis who fled to neighboring Jordan and Syria are beginning to return—or at least consider coming back.

Laurens Jolles, UN High Commission for Refugees representative in Syria stated “For the first time some Iraqi refugees are considering returning to Iraq,” before advising, “UNHCR is not in a position to recommend return at this time but recognizes the Iraq Government's effort to support people who are returning.”

In the past week, the UNHCR estimates that around 600 Iraqis have left Syria each day. The Iraqi Government, meanwhile, states that 45,000 Iraqis have returned from Syria during October.

Humanitarian officials stress that many of the refugees want to personally “check out” the situation back home before returning with the whole family; others say that many of those who fled had run out of money or simply are homesick. Still according to UNHCR officials, Syria hosts 1.4 million Iraqi refugees and this poses a serious social strain on facilities in that Arab land. Refugees are not allowed to work and are thus marginalized. Many too are members of Iraq’s beleaguered Christian community.

The UN’s World Food Program Executive Director Josette Sheeran, met with senior Syrian officials and groups of Iraqi refugees in Damascus, warned that despite the efforts of the host government and donors, “more Iraqi women, children and men are unable to meet their basic food needs and social support systems in Syria are being overstretched.” WFP will augment food aid for the needy.

The new American strategy and the surge in U.S. combat forces appears to be working; attacks and bombings against civilians are dramatically down and thankfully casualties among American troops have dropped considerably too. The big question remains whether such improved security can be continued as American forces are reduced over the coming months to lower troop levels? While Al-Qaida terrorists and Islamic insurgents are not yet defeated, the balance may have tipped away from the militants.

Sustaining success now depends on the political debate in Washington especially during the ongoing Presidential election campaign. A sizable portion of the Democrat Party would sacrifice a successful Iraq policy on the political bonfire of expediency, emotion, and partisanship. The Bush Administration and the Republicans at large, are forced to play political defense for many policies which have been poorly planned and often ill-explained until this year. And the elected Iraqi government has yet to get its political act together for the betterment of its country and to heal Sunni/Shiite rifts among the Muslim population.

Yet despite the deep challenges which lie ahead, BBC correspondent Jim Muir adds, “There can be no denying that many Iraqis, especially in Baghdad, are more optimistic now than they would have dared believe possible a year ago.”

Still for so many displaced Iraqis, the road back from Damascus will hopefully lead to a better and more secure life in Baghdad. Nobody wants to be a refugee.


John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
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