Iraqi refugee crisis

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Latest press releases 11/20/2008 National Geographic Adventure honors World Vision aid worker ... 03/19/2008 Five years after war, refugee crisis looms large for Iraq 06/14/2007 Iraqi refugee children bear scars of violence ...

Five years after war, refugee crisis looms large for Iraq

As the world marks the fifth anniversary of the Coalition invasion of Iraq, World Vision is calling on the international community to address the challenge of 2 million Iraqi refugees who have fled the violence in their country. Another 2.2 million are estimated to be displaced within Iraq. In 2008, chronic under-funding of United Nations' appeals threatens to force a severe curtailment in the level of services currently offered to refugees by the humanitarian community. Urgent action is needed to ensure adequate education, health care, psychosocial support and basic supplies reach families sheltering in Jordan, Syria and other neighboring countries. “The scale of the crisis facing the people of Iraq, inside and outside its borders, is so great that its neighbors simply do not have the necessary resources to cope,” said World Vision's advocacy director for the Middle East, Sharon Payt. Read more... World Vision's response Update on Iraq's refugees (Reuters AlertNet) June 2009 Update on the status of children June 2007 Report on needs of child refugees April 2007 When disaster strikes How World Vision responds How your audience can help Additional resources Reuters AlertNet Relief Web Other emergency responses

With anecdotal reports of families resorting to the sex trade, child labor and other desperate means to survive, World Vision is especially concerned about the welfare of Iraqi refugee children and women. Photo by Ashley Clements/World Vision An elderly Iraqi refugee poses in the hallway of her two-room apartment, which she shares with her three sons in Amman, Jordan. They rarely leave their home and none of them has held a proper job in more than a decade. Photo by Ashley Clements/World Vision Iraqi families receive food supplements from one of World Vision’s partner organizations in Jordan. Photo by Stephen Matthews/World Vision >> See more photos

Photo gallery

Miriam, an Iraqi refugee, struggles to provide for her four children in Jordan. They fled Iraq after her husband was murdered. Photo by Ashley Clements/World Vision		Refugees living in Jordan often spend their waking hours behind closed doors. Children cannot go to Jordanian schools. The adults cannot work legally. Photo by John Schenk/World Vision
The boy who drew this picture is 16. He has never been to school. He spends most of his time at home because his mother is afraid he will be picked up by the police. Photo by John Schenk/World Vision		Hadi, 12, fled Iraq with his family because militants threatened to kill his father. They now live in a one-room apartment in Jordan. Photo by Brian Jonson/World Vision
World Vision funds a safe haven for Iraqi refugee children and Jordanian children. The center is located in one of Amman's many poverty-ridden suburbs where some 800,000 Iraqi refugees live. Photo by Ashley Clements/World Vision		This Sabean-Mandean Iraqi refugee girl lives in one of Amman's poverty-ridden neighborhoods. She practices her writing skills at home with her mother. Refugee children cannot go to Jordanian schools. Photo by Ashley Clements/World Vision
Fawaz, an Iraqi refugee in Amman, keeps his school bag packed in the hopes that one day he will be allowed to go to school. Iraqi refugees have no official status in Jordan. Photo by Ashley Clements/World Vision		Hadi, 12, with his sister, Hoda, 6, stand outside the apartment that has been their home since they fled Iraq. Hadi witnessed a friend’s death when an errant bomb struck his house while his friend was inside. Photo by Brian Jonson/World Vision

In Amman, Jordan, Hadi, 12, and his siblings sit in front of the one-room apartment they've lived in with their parents for more than three years. The family fled Iraq when their father received a death threat. Photo by Brian Jonson/World Vision