Showing posts with label Iraqi Refugees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraqi Refugees. Show all posts
Thursday, October 2, 2008
US sending fewer Iraqi refugees to Michigan to ease economic woes
Michigan is one of the nation's top destinations for Iraqi refugees, having received about 3,000 of the 13,823 Iraqi refugees allowed into the country between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008, based on U.S.. State Department figures obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Now the state only can take refugees who have a close relative such as a parent, child or sibling in the state.
Monday, June 23, 2008
The Real State of Iraq
"By now, summer of 2008, excess deaths from violence in Iraq since March of 2003 must be at least a million. This conclusion can be reached more than one way. There is not much controversy about it in the scientific community. Some 310,000 of those were probably killed by US troops or by the US Air Force, with the bulk dying in bombing raids by US fighter jets and helicopter gunships on densely populated city and town quarters."
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
U.S. lets in fewer Iraqi refugees, not more
A family walks in a refugee camp in Najaf November 21, 2007. Some Western aid groups driven from Iraq in recent years are cautiously coming back, weighing the danger to their staff against the lives they may save among increasingly desperate Iraqis. Ali Abu Shish (IRAQ)"U.S. admissions of Iraqi refugees are nose-diving amid bureaucratic in-fighting, despite the Bush administration's pledge to boost them to roughly 1,000 per month, according to State Department statistics obtained by The Associated Press."
No surprise here ~ most Iraqis are afterall Muslims. And, if there is one thing the Zionists who control America don't want is more Muslims.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
US Admitting Fewer Iraqi Refugees
"The United States admitted only 362 Iraqi refugees in November, almost 100 fewer than in October, and far less than half the number it needs per month to meet a goal of 12,000 by the end of this budget year, according to State Department statistics obtained by The Associated Press on Monday."
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Iraq : Looking Back : 'Internationally Sponsored Genocide'.
"Editors have a mantra, do not look back, move on, write what is current. But sometimes looking back is vital. Those who ignore even the recent past are doomed to understand nothing, sink deeper into quagmires - and bleat again : 'Why do they hate us'?"
Thursday, October 25, 2007
“I have lost everything”
by Margaret Aguirre, International Medical Corps (IMC) - Oct 24, 2007
I am in Jordan, where the U.N. estimates that 600,000 Iraqis have fled the violence in their homeland, streaming across the border in hopes of finding a safer existence. Many of them have leveraged everything they have to secure visas and get their families onto flights out of Iraq.
By the time these refugees make their way to a major city like Amman, they have little money or economic prospects and limited access to health care. Most have also suffered the loss of a family member.
Yesterday I toured health clinics in a low-income area of East Amman, where large numbers of Iraqis have settled and where International Medical Corps will be working to provide them with primary and mental health care services.
Their stories are heartbreaking. Repeatedly I heard the same phrase: "I have lost everything."
One man morosely recounted the bombing that hit his home four months ago, killing one young daughter and paralyzing the other. His wife, who witnessed everything, has been so distraught she can scarcely leave the home. He has come to this particular clinic, which is funded by the UNHCR and run by the Jordan Red Crescent, to appeal for the expensive surgeries for his surviving daughter.
Injuries related to conflict are just part of the painful equation; these refugees have inadequate primary care and nutrition for their children, little or no reproductive or antenatal care, and many suffer from neglected chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure for which they cannot afford care or medication.
At another clinic operated by the Jordan Red Crescent and French Red Cross, a little Iraqi girl was brought in by a father clearly fearful about her worsening condition. She was extremely frail, unresponsive and her pallor ashen. Her father described how hard life has been since fleeing Iraq. He is out of work and unable to afford care for his family. This clinic is literally their only lifeline.
But in addition to those seeking help at these facilities, there is an enormous population not being reached at all because they are simply unable to travel. IMC is targeting this population, planning to bring comprehensive primary and mental health services to them directly through mobile medical units.
IMC is just getting started here. The influx of refugees has been so vast and so rapid that we repeatedly discover whole new "gap" areas - suffering that is going either unnoticed or underserved. All of it is putting increasing strain on the local population, particularly among the poor who are in need of similar services.
Aside from the physical needs, these people have huge emotional needs that are largely being ignored. This is an oft-neglected area, and therefore one where IMC is taking the lead, integrating clinical mental health into primary care services.
The refugees we're working with have been subjected to years of low-level warfare and large-scale regional conflicts, depriving them of basic life needs, and exposing them to trauma, depression and stress. This is to say nothing of those with pre-existing mental health disorders that aren't being diagnosed or treated. For these refugees, the prospect of long-term recovery really hinges on their ability to recover emotionally as well.
One woman I met from Baghdad tearfully recounted how her brother was killed, forcing her to flee with her husband and four children. And yet she is effusively grateful for the care she is receiving at this clinic. On this day, she has brought in her young son, who has a bad cold - and she has discovered the happy news that she is pregnant.
I am astonished once again by the resilience of people who have endured relentless violence and crushing personal loss. For the man at the UNHCR clinic whose daughter was killed, and who faces losing his only other child, the outlook was grim. A Jordan Red Crescent representative explained to him that the hospital likely could not approve such expensive surgeries for one child, when so many others are in need. He gazed down, thought about this for a moment, then turned to me and offered a striking statement: "Maybe you tell others about the situation here - it might not save my daughter but it might save others."
IMC Headquarters
1919 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 400, Santa Monica, CA 90404
T. 310.826.7800 F. 310.442.6622
I am in Jordan, where the U.N. estimates that 600,000 Iraqis have fled the violence in their homeland, streaming across the border in hopes of finding a safer existence. Many of them have leveraged everything they have to secure visas and get their families onto flights out of Iraq.
By the time these refugees make their way to a major city like Amman, they have little money or economic prospects and limited access to health care. Most have also suffered the loss of a family member.
Yesterday I toured health clinics in a low-income area of East Amman, where large numbers of Iraqis have settled and where International Medical Corps will be working to provide them with primary and mental health care services.
Their stories are heartbreaking. Repeatedly I heard the same phrase: "I have lost everything."
One man morosely recounted the bombing that hit his home four months ago, killing one young daughter and paralyzing the other. His wife, who witnessed everything, has been so distraught she can scarcely leave the home. He has come to this particular clinic, which is funded by the UNHCR and run by the Jordan Red Crescent, to appeal for the expensive surgeries for his surviving daughter.
Injuries related to conflict are just part of the painful equation; these refugees have inadequate primary care and nutrition for their children, little or no reproductive or antenatal care, and many suffer from neglected chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure for which they cannot afford care or medication.
At another clinic operated by the Jordan Red Crescent and French Red Cross, a little Iraqi girl was brought in by a father clearly fearful about her worsening condition. She was extremely frail, unresponsive and her pallor ashen. Her father described how hard life has been since fleeing Iraq. He is out of work and unable to afford care for his family. This clinic is literally their only lifeline.
But in addition to those seeking help at these facilities, there is an enormous population not being reached at all because they are simply unable to travel. IMC is targeting this population, planning to bring comprehensive primary and mental health services to them directly through mobile medical units.
IMC is just getting started here. The influx of refugees has been so vast and so rapid that we repeatedly discover whole new "gap" areas - suffering that is going either unnoticed or underserved. All of it is putting increasing strain on the local population, particularly among the poor who are in need of similar services.
Aside from the physical needs, these people have huge emotional needs that are largely being ignored. This is an oft-neglected area, and therefore one where IMC is taking the lead, integrating clinical mental health into primary care services.
The refugees we're working with have been subjected to years of low-level warfare and large-scale regional conflicts, depriving them of basic life needs, and exposing them to trauma, depression and stress. This is to say nothing of those with pre-existing mental health disorders that aren't being diagnosed or treated. For these refugees, the prospect of long-term recovery really hinges on their ability to recover emotionally as well.
One woman I met from Baghdad tearfully recounted how her brother was killed, forcing her to flee with her husband and four children. And yet she is effusively grateful for the care she is receiving at this clinic. On this day, she has brought in her young son, who has a bad cold - and she has discovered the happy news that she is pregnant.
I am astonished once again by the resilience of people who have endured relentless violence and crushing personal loss. For the man at the UNHCR clinic whose daughter was killed, and who faces losing his only other child, the outlook was grim. A Jordan Red Crescent representative explained to him that the hospital likely could not approve such expensive surgeries for one child, when so many others are in need. He gazed down, thought about this for a moment, then turned to me and offered a striking statement: "Maybe you tell others about the situation here - it might not save my daughter but it might save others."
IMC Headquarters
1919 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 400, Santa Monica, CA 90404
T. 310.826.7800 F. 310.442.6622
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
