Foreign refuge often eludes young Iraqi men

Four years after the US invasion, Jordan has 700,000 Iraqi refugees, but many men are routinely turned back.

from the March 20, 2007 edition

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Asking US, Europe to do more

"There clearly are people being returned," says Bob Carey, vice president of refugee resettlement for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), based in New York. "The numbers are not enormous, but it's enough to create a pervasive fear among refugees that they will be returned. And there's the effect of the return – they're fearful of walking on a street, fearful to send children to school."

While Mr. Carey calls the US decision to take in more Iraqis a "small step in the right direction," the IRC is asking America and Europe to do more.

"With violence spiraling out of control in Iraq, safe repatriation is not a viable option for the foreseeable future, and neither Syria nor Jordan have the will or resources to integrate the refugees," according to the group's website.

Another issue keeping Iraqis from going elsewhere is the decision of many countries to accept only new Iraqi passports. Passports, however, are incredibly difficult to obtain and can cost several hundred dollars. Moreover, Iraqis taking refuge here, in Syria, and other Middle Eastern countries can get a new passport only by going back to Iraq.

"It's easier to get a fraudulent passport than the a legitimate one," says Carey. "And to get this new passport, a real one, they would have to go back into Iraq. Not only is that dangerous and expensive, but that would, one, make them no loner refugees, and, two, since they have no legal status, they might not be allowed back into Jordan or Syria."

In January, the US tightened restrictions on which Iraqi passports it would accept on American visa applications.

Several versions of Iraqi passports, "do not meet international security standards for issuance or design," says a spokesperson for the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

"Substandard security features and a lack of control over production and issuance make the [passports] extremely vulnerable to alteration, counterfeiting, and impostors," the spokesperson says.

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