"Half million" Iraqi refugees fled violence - VP

[leftchick]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC854892.htm


REUTERS/Namir Noor-Eldeen NAJAF, Iraq, April 28 (Reuters) - An Iraqi vice president said on Friday 100,000 families -- perhaps some half a million people -- are living as refugees because of sectarian violence wracking the country.

Adel Abdul Mahdi gave no source for his estimate, which is much higher than the 11,000 families -- or about 60,000 people -- which the Displacement and Migration Ministry said two weeks ago had fled their homes since late February.

An aide said Mahdi, the Shi'ite member of Iraq's three-man Presidency Council, was unavailable to clarify the remark, made to reporters during a visit to the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf.

Since the Migration Ministry mainly counts those applying for assistance or places in camps, it seems many refugees have not been included in its figures -- many people have quietly left neighbourhoods to seek shelter with relatives elsewhere.

[rodeodance]

1. nope. it is not a civil war yet.

[maddezmom]

2. kick

[Roland99]

3. 100,000 Families Are Fleeing Violence, Iraq Official Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/world/middleeast/30iraq.html?ex=1304049600&en=3b622b0ae2075010&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 29 — A new estimate by one of Iraq's vice presidents has put the number of Iraqi families fleeing sectarian violence at 100,000, far outstripping previous projections and raising the possibility that a total of a half-million people could be displaced.

The estimate, made Friday by Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite leader selected as one of two vice presidents, is much higher than other recent estimates. For example, the national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, said in an interview last week that 13,750 families had been displaced, which could mean about 70,000 people.

Yet both statements go far beyond estimates by American military leaders, who have said there is no "widespread movement" of Iraqis fleeing from sectarian fighting.

Even if Mr. Mahdi's estimate proves too high, it suggests how concerned Iraqi leaders have become about the entrenched and vicious sectarian fighting that has reshaped the lives of many Iraqi families, particularly since the Feb. 22 Askariya shrine bombing in Samarra.

Clinton helped refugees in Europe.

* created refugees in Iraq.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. Gee, were that many fleeing when Saddam was in power?

.
.
.

Even with the sanctions most Iraqis were better off before the USA and it's "Coerced" invaded and occupied.

3 years later

It's STILL getting worse

Gubment can't even run the USA half-decent -

What made anyone think that billions of dollars of USA taxpayer's pocket money spent on bullets and bombs could improve things?

(sigh)

[Inland]

5. Saddam had a strategy of moving and displacing populations

What's happening now is a disorganized version of the same, where people are made to not feel safe in the hope that they will pack up and move, leaving the neighborhood, city or district ethnically cleansed.

[Roland99]

7. This has the added "benefit" of having Shiite look at Sunni with fear.

That was not the norm before in Iraq.

[eissa]

11. Hardly

Although no bed of roses, the violence at least was targeted, not random as it is now. Then you just had to keep your mouth shut to avoid being killed. Now you must remain a prisoner in your own home -- a home that doesn't have running water or electricity as it did prior to the invasion. Then my family in Baghdad would complain about sanctions and life in general, but didn't want to leave. Now they are begging me to find them a way out and I cringe when I tell them that I cannot find an embassy willing to issue them visas. My cousin is married to an Armenian and they are hoping to flee there soon.

[VolcanoJen]

6. So the Refugee Crisis the conservatives mocked finally materializes.

And I suppose they'll be all over television tomorrow morning, telling us this doesn't mean Iraq has disintegrated into civil war.

:eyes:

It's so maddening. :-(

[wordpix]

8. thank you, King George W, for bringing freedom &democracy to Iraq

NOT :sarcasm:

As Daniel Ellsberg said today at NYC peace march, "My message is: Don't just resign. Leak," Ellsberg said. "I don't think George Bush is stupid. I think he's dangerous, and he has to be stopped."

[tabasco]

9. What about the good news out of Iraq !?

That librul media only wants to report about those half-million people fleeing their homes. Why don't they tell us about that school that got painted?? I'm sure we gave some candy to the kids that are now refugees. Condi and Rummy said everything is going swell.

[struggle4progress]

10. Update 17: Violence Uproots 100,000 Families in Iraq

... Accurate counts are difficult because many people simply move in with relatives. Despite U.S. claims, it is clear that substantial numbers of people have relocated to areas where their communities form the majority ...

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/04/30/ap2708733.html