Inside the Middle East - Blog
February 4, 2008
Iraqi Refugees Not Returning Home
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has just released its latest report on Iraqi refugees in Syria.

The update states that a very small number of refugees have actually returned home to Iraq.


According to January figures released by the Iraqi Red Crescent, some 46,000 Iraqis returned to their country in the last quarter of 2007, "a much lower figure than that given by the Iraqi government."

According to UNHCR estimates, about 1.5 million Iraqis fled the violence in their homeland across the border.

Another interesting finding: more than 70% of Iraqis polled by UNHCR/IPSOS in November 2007 said they were returning home because they could either no longer afford to live in Syria or because their visa had expired, not because they were confident that the situation in Iraq had improved.

Find the full UNHCR report here.

-- Posted by
Hala Gorani
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