Leaving Baghdad, Still Burning

Blogger Riverbend leaves her country for Syria:

We were all refugees- rich or poor. And refugees all look the same- there’s a unique expression you’ll find on their faces- relief, mixed with sorrow, tinged with apprehension. The faces almost all look the same.

The first minutes after passing the border were overwhelming. Overwhelming relief and overwhelming sadness… How is it that only a stretch of several kilometers and maybe twenty minutes, so firmly segregates life from death?

Riverbend and her family are now among the 1.2 million Iraqi refugees who fled to Syria, with 700,000 having fled to Jordan.

Syria and Jordan are bearing the brunt of this exodus largely without complaining, but because of the economic strain and/or security concerns, Syria started restricting the influx of refugees while Jordan has refused admittance to male Iraqi refugees aged 17 to 35.

Meanwhile, what has the Bush Administration done to alleviate this crisis? Not nearly enough:

Iraqi refugees trying to come to the United States face roadblocks. Since October, only 719 people have been admitted, even though the United States pledged earlier this year to accept 7,000, says Kristele Younes of the group Refugees International.

She says the delay is due to lack of political will among government agencies.

After professions of concern for the Iraqi people's welfare and freedom from tyranny, it sure is stingy in aiding those displaced by a war of its own making.



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