Tough Homecoming for Iraqi Refugees

[Barrett808]

Source: IWPR

Tough Homecoming for Iraqi Refugees
Thousands of Iraqis who fled abroad are heading back - but many don’t have homes to return to.
By an IWPR reporter in Baghdad (ICR No. 241)

When 45-year-old Amira Abdul-Wahab returned to Baghdad earlier this month, she knew that she probably would not be able to go home. But that did not stop her from trying.

Abdul-Wahab, a widow, fled from the al-Baya’ neighbourhood of Baghdad last year after militants threatened her family. She and her 18-year-old daughter took refuge in Syria, where they received news that their house had been looted by criminals and then occupied by civilians. Whey arrived back in Baghdad two weeks ago, Abdul-Wahab, a Sunni, went to her house to try to reclaim it.

"I learned that the people in my house were an elderly couple and a young girl. Because of that, I felt like I could go and talk to them," she said. “I was shocked when they refused to leave, claiming that Shia militias had settled them in the house."

...

UNHCR research has revealed that most - 66 per cent - are not going back to their own homes.

“I don’t know why the Iraqi government has asked them to come back when they don’t have a plan for them,” said Jenan Mubarak, a Baghdad-based women’s and human rights activist. “The most important thing is that they need to remove squatters. If this doesn’t happen, any other initiatives are useless.”

Read more: http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-341614

[libodem]

1. Oh, the Iraq Government is asking them back

so they can live in the streets, in a hail of bullets, and drink cholera water. We haven't seen enough of them killed yet. Perhaps they can flee to the mountains of northern Iraq, where Turkish warplanes may bomb them. For God's sake don't let them immigrate into the US, especially if they risked their live being an interpreter or helping the US in any way. They will be picked off first by the ghouls with the drills for being traitors. Just something else for cheney&bush to whack off to, as they drift off to sleep, snug in their warm little beds. Their woodies must be on a permanent viagra high, with all the torture and death.:sarcasm: (just in case it isn't clear)

[MetaTrope]

2. Welcome to Kabul Redux