FTD-Serie: Serie Business English
Fehlt Ihnen im Englischen häufiger das treffende Wort? Kommen Sie trotz guter Vorsätze nicht dazu, ein Magazin oder Buch im Original zu lesen? Dann finden Sie hier interessante und vielfältige Lektüre aus der Financial Times - mit einem Glossar, das Ihnen auf die Sprünge hilft.
Business English: Grim struggle continues for Iraqi refugees
Even if it is safe enough to go home, basic services are dire and jobs scarceNearly a decade after Saddam Hussein's downfall supposedly opened a new era for Iraq, more than 1.5m of the country's people are scattered across the globe as refugees from their homeland's turmoil. Another 1.5m Iraqis have been displaced inside the country, unable to return to their homes, a third of whom live in squalid squatter camps.
This enduring tragedy shows few signs of easing even as US troops prepare to leave Iraq next year. After the British-American invasion of 2003, Iraq sank into the bloody chaos of insurgency and sectarian violence. Entire neighbourhoods of the country's cities, particularly Baghdad, were cleared of either their Sunni or Shia inhabitants.
Iraq has become significantly more secure in the past two years - and 37,090 refugees did go home in 2009, an increase on the 25,370 recorded in 2008. But this was still below the number of returns in 2007. In 2004 more than 180,000 returned in the wake of Saddam's overthrow.
About 207,000 Iraqis are registered with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in neighbouring countries, but the overall total is higher, with host governments putting it at about 1.8m. Meanwhile, Iraqi refugees have travelled far beyond their traditional destinations in the Middle East, settling in large numbers in Sweden and the US.
UN officials in Jordan and Syria, where most Iraqi refugees live, say there has been no significant shift in the trends in recent years. And some are still leaving Iraq.
"They are coming with similar stories of fleeing violence, fleeing threats and having had members of their family either threatened or abducted," says Imran Riza, head of UNHCR in Jordan. "It's not a very high number, but it more or less equals the number that are being resettled out."
Selma, an Iraqi refugee living in Syria, remembers how she waited for news of her husband after he failed to return from work one evening in Baghdad. After 10 days, the phone call came: he had been kidnapped by a militia that was demanding a EUR23,000 ransom. It was impossible for the family to raise the money and as the children started to receive threats, Selma fled, taking her two daughters and her son to Syria.
That was four years ago, and Selma has not returned to her country even though her husband was released after friends and relatives cobbled together the ransom 18 months later.
"We are just one of millions of families torn apart by war - it's not the worst story," says Selma. "I have met so many families that live in grinding poverty, without respect, without hope."
Additional problems
Iraq has been locked in a political impasse since the general election on March 7. Despite months of wrangling, no new government has yet been formed.
Even if refugees feel it is safe enough to go home, basic services such as water, education and electricity are dire and unemployment is high. They may also find that their houses have been occupied by strangers.
But life in exile can also be tough. Refugees are mostly prohibited from working and families' savings have often been wiped out. Many who returned to Iraq did so because they ran out of money.
The government offers returning families 1.5m dinars (EUR995) under a programme in which the army is used to evict squatters from returnees' homes. Yet Iraq's government and UN agencies lack the resources to fully support the returnees.
"We are struggling to make return a viable option," says Daniel Endres, UNHCR's representative in Iraq. "A lot of donor countries have turned their back towards Iraq and even forcefully deport people to Iraq."
The political stalemate has discouraged people from going home. "People are not sure about the future... everybody is waiting and apprehensive," says Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister. "This year we haven't seen much movement and the main reason is this [political] impasse."
Significantly, many middle-class professionals, whose skills would be vital for Iraq's reconstruction, are among the refugees.
"It's definitely a major brain drain, because many of these people who are in Jordan, or Europe or the United States, are the qualified, the cream of the society," says Mr Zebari.
And Selma has little faith in the talk of improved security. "I'm not a political person so I take the situation according to my neighbourhood, according to my street," she says. "I'm sure it will not be safe because it's just like a jungle there."
- 1
- 2
-
The Financial Times, 21.09.2010
© 2010 The Financial Times
Suche in der FTD-Personendatenbank
19°C
14°C
80
%
17°C
20
%
15°C
35
%
60
%
Home |
Unternehmen |
Finanzen |
Börse |
Politik |
Management+Karriere |
IT+Medien |
Wissen |
Sport |
Auto |
Lifestyle |
zum Seitenanfang
© 1999 - 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
Aktuelle Nachrichten über Wirtschaft, Politik, Finanzen und Börsen
Börsen- und Finanzmarktdaten:
Bereitstellung der Kurs- und Marktinformationen erfolgt durch die Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Es wird keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit der Angaben übernommen!
Über FTD.de | Impressum | Datenschutz | Disclaimer | Mediadaten | E-Mail an FTD | Sitemap | Hilfe | Archiv
Mit ICRA gekennzeichnet
VW | Siemens | Apple | Gold | MBA | Business English | IQ-Test | Gehaltsrechner | Festgeld-Vergleich | Erbschaftssteuer
G+J Glossar
Partner-Angebote
© 1999 - 2010 Financial Times Deutschland
Aktuelle Nachrichten über Wirtschaft, Politik, Finanzen und Börsen
Börsen- und Finanzmarktdaten:
Bereitstellung der Kurs- und Marktinformationen erfolgt durch die Interactive Data Managed Solutions AG. Es wird keine Haftung für die Richtigkeit der Angaben übernommen!
Über FTD.de | Impressum | Datenschutz | Disclaimer | Mediadaten | E-Mail an FTD | Sitemap | Hilfe | Archiv
Mit ICRA gekennzeichnet
VW | Siemens | Apple | Gold | MBA | Business English | IQ-Test | Gehaltsrechner | Festgeld-Vergleich | Erbschaftssteuer
G+J Glossar
Partner-Angebote