Rome (AsiaNews) – Arab countries and Middle East states can no longer guarantee a future to Iraqi refugees who believe their only hope lies in the West, a paradise where they will find security and stability. Naturally, the scourge of migration is leaving a marked impact on the entire nation, from Shiites to Sunnis to Christians. But it is the last that experience the most frustration when, as they told AsiaNews, they reach Europe “confident of its humanity and Christianity” and are rejected. Mgr Philippe Najim, procurator of the Chaldeans in Europe, made an appeal through AsiaNews: “The West and European governments in particular can and must do more for all refugees from Iraq.” And he told international humanitarian organizations: “If you do not look after them, Iraqi migrants will be left without hope.”

Europe

Syria, Turkey and Jordan grant only temporary permits and seek to transfer refugees to third countries. So people spend years knowing they are just passing through, waiting for a visa that would allow them to reach Australia, Europe, Canada and the United States. Mgr Najim, leader of the Chaldean community in Europe, said: “Christians and Muslims escape and suffer to the same extent but Christians who come to the West experience more frustration. They flee in the belief that Christian Europe will better understand and have compassion for their pain. But often they are disillusioned.” The conditions experienced by arrivals are often disastrous. Travelling illegally to northern Europe, for example, costs up to 15,000 dollars and not all make it: many perish during the journey that is fraught with great difficulties and dangers.

Over the past year, with the exception of Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, nearly all European states have restricted the number of permits. “Italy does not even have a specific programme for refugees like those in place in Germany, Holland, England and Norway. In these countries, asylum seekers are integrated in the community through language classes, education for children, accommodation and a monthly subsidy. In Italy, there is nothing like this,” said Mgr Najim.

“In recent years, we have had thousands and thousands of Christians who migrated to Europe and the Chaldean Patriarchate was absolutely unprepared to follow the refugees of its community,” admitted the procurator. At the moment there are around 100,000 Chaldeans scattered around Europe where they mostly get asylum for humanitarian reasons, which must be renewed on an annual basis.

Mgr Najim made an appeal to governments in the lead-up to Christmas: “We join together with the words of the pope (in the Angelus on 17 December) and invite European governments to understand the tragic situation in Iraq; refugees continue to suffer and ask only to be able to live a normal life. The Chaldean Church asks Europe not to close its eyes to the pain of these people, Christians and Muslims. And, whenever possible, facilitate our pastoral activity without scattering the community of the faithful.” And he urged international humanitarian organisations: “Become aware of the life led by thousands of refugees in Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Europe: they don’t have specific legal status and if you do not look after them, they will continue to live in need of everything and deprived of all hopes.

United States

Humanitarian organizations say the refugee exodus from Iraq to the United States will force the Bush administration to reassess its policy that currently only resettles 500 Iraqis per year. The US line has been that the refugee situation is temporary but the deteriorating situation in Iraq has made it too dangerous for many refugees to return any time soon. Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for refugees and migration, said the US president had the power to push the number of those allowed to resettle up to 20,000.

So far only a few Iraqis have managed to get a residence permit to remain in the United States as Washington and the United Nations have yet to reach agreement about how to manage the problem. Saubrey said the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) “has got to do a better job.” UNHCR has responded by saying that to do so, it needs more funds from the international community.

Arthur E. “Gene” Dewey, ex-assistant secretary of state for refugee affairs said that “for political reasons” the Bush government “discouraged” the resettlement of Iraqi refugees in the United States “because of the psychological message it would send, that it is a losing cause in Iraq.” According to official estimates, 200 Iraqis have been admitted to the US over the past year but nearly all filed their applications before the 2003 war. Saubrey admitted: “Even if we resettle 20,000 in the future, it is a very small portion of the overall problem.”
Last year, the Bush administration asked for funds for 70,000 refugees from around the world. Only 42,000 of these gained admission due to “lack of funding and inability to obtain security clearances”.

The Chaldean Federation of America noted that after the Gulf War, Washington allowed 12,000 Muslim Shiites to enter the US after they fled the persecution of Saddam. “Why can't they do the same thing for Iraqi Christians?” asked the group's director, Joseph Kassab.