Posted on 11/27/2007 2:29:53 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -
Hundreds of Iraqi refugees boarded buses for home on Tuesday in the first convoy from an Iraqi-funded effort to speed the return of families that fled the country's violence and insecurity.
Many Iraqis have headed back on own their own from Syria and elsewhere as extremist attacks have fallen sharply in Baghdad and other areas. But now the Iraqi government is hoping to accelerate the flow - and draw more attention to the recent drop in violence - by offering to pay for trips home.
The program also seeks to win favor from neighboring countries such as Syria and Jordan that are struggling with an estimated 2.2 million Iraqi refugees. Syria has tightened visa rules for Iraqis in hopes of forcing people to return home and blocking new refugees.
"Baghdad, you are victorious," chanted some Iraqis as they headed for a line of 20 buses that would carry about 800 refugees to the border. From there, Iraqi buses are scheduled to bring them to Baghdad on Wednesday, said according to Mohammed Ali al-Budairi, a coordinator for displaced Iraqis in Syria.
The entire trip can take about 10 hours without interruptions, but the convoy will likely be delayed by checkpoints and security precautions. Details about the protection for the convoy was not immediately disclosed.
Khaled Ibrahim, 45, said he was willing to return to Baghdad after hearing the security situation had improved in the capital. But he acknowledged he could pull up stakes again at the first signs of trouble.
"If I go and discover that the situation is not stable, I will come back" to Syria, said Ibrahim, with his wife, three sons and two daughters in tow.
His elder son Abdullah, 13, looked forward to attending school in Baghdad. "Explosions don't scare me," he chirped.
The first bus left by mid-afternoon from al-Sayda Zeinab, an area in southern Damascus where thousands of Iraqi refugees have lived since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime.
Syrian officials says the country has up to 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, straining its education, health and housing systems. Jordan estimates it has up to 700,000 Iraqis. In addition, the U.N. refugee agency has cited various reports of more than 2.4 million Iraqis displaced inside the country.
Adnan al-Shourifi, the commercial secretary at the Iraqi Embassy in Damascus, described the bus convoy Tuesday as a "test."
Thousands of Iraqis in Syria have headed back home in the past weeks. The U.S. military says attacks across Iraq have fallen to their lowest level since February 2006, attributing this partly to a surge of nearly 30,000 troops earlier this year and cooperation from local groups fighting extremist groups such as al-Qaida in Iraq.
Earlier this month, the Iraqi embassy in Damascus set up 11 registration centers for Iraqis to apply for the trip home. In Jordan, Iraqi ambassador Saad al-Hayyani told The Associated Press that Iraq will give Jordan $8 million to help ease the refugee burden.
In Baghdad, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the "Iraqi government is eager to have Iraqis return to their country and live a normal, safe life." He said more bus convoys of returning refugees are expected in the coming days.
Officials in Iraq and Syria have said more than 46,000 refugees returned in October and the flow has continued this month. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees could not confirm the figures, but said more Iraqis were leaving Syria than arriving - with a daily average of 1,500 departures compared with 500 arrivals.
Sybella Wikes, press officer for the UNHCR in Syria, said the agency doesn't "think it's time" yet for a massive refugee return.
"We certainly can't define the situation as being safe in any area in Iraq," she said.
But she added the organization still would "support any Iraqi who wants to return."
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., arrived in Damascus to stress U.S. "concern about the welfare of displaced Iraqis in Syria and Jordan" and "review the situation of Iraqi refugees," a U.S. Embassy statement said. She planned to hold talks with Syrian officials, non-governmental organizations and other agencies.
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2.2 million refugees divided by 800 divided by 365 means it’ll only be 7.5 YEARS before everyone gets home.
Of course, once they get there, they’ll still have to deal with the squatters in their houses and businesses, along with the infrastructure problems....
Hard to take a little good news, isn't it, oh trollish one. Are you related to Jack Murtha, BTW? How's that surge thing going anyway?
800 per day is only the beginning of Iraqis returning home. Glad you took the time to do the math to make your doom and gloom, ultimately worthless unfounded point.
(If conservatives hate Hollywood so much, why are they so hot for one more C-list hack actor?)
One more C-list hack actor???
You might fancy yourself to be a movie critic but as far as great world leaders you have to be a troll to mock President Reagan.
Never bought into the Reagan myth. Nice to see you picked up on the reference, though.
Iraq says it can't handle refugee influxBy HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 47 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Iraq's government acknowledged Tuesday that it cannot handle a massive return of refugees, as the U.N. announced a $11 million relief package to help the most vulnerable Iraqi families trickling back to their war-ravaged homeland.
The return of refugees is a politically charged issue in this country, where the embattled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is eager to point to recent military gains against al-Qaida in Iraq and other militants as evidence that Iraq is now a relatively safe place.
But the U.S. military has warned that a massive return of refugees could rekindle sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites and that some returnees have found their Baghdad homes occupied by members of the other Muslim sect.
"In reality, the ministry cannot absorb a return on that (large) scale," Iraqi Migration Minister Abdul-Samad Rahman told a news conference. "If the influx is huge, then neither the ministry nor the entire government can handle it."
Read the whole story here: http://tinyurl.com/268ndy
Whoopie! An article from the AP, no bias there.
You were on here last January so certain the surge wouldn’t work because the Dems said so in an AP article.
How’d that work out for you?
Socialists always look at the gloomy side of things and take the “can’t work, won’t work” negative stance at anything proposed or undertaken by conservatives. The Democrats are the party that wishes failure for America.
Gee, the lead article in this thread is from...the Associated Press! Golly, good thing that you pointed out its biases....
It's quite a turnaround from last year when they were leaving in droves. That number is just the beginning.
You seem a tad bitter about the changes in Iraq. It's really annoying you, isn't it? You have quite the poinsonous approach to all of this. Poor thing.
I went back and looked at some of your other posts and I'm beginning to suspect that we have a sleeper troll in our midst.
Yaddayada yaddah.
Population movements never occur at a constant rate Troll.
Or did you forget Sociology 101?
Schlock’s been laying a little low since being called out it seems. Must be in “stealth troll” mode.
The surge working and the Dimrats 22 percent approval rating must’ve driven him/her to the basement.
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