Iraqi Refugees need U.S. help, advocates say

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

America must invest more time, money, and human resources to help those displaced by the ongoing Iraq War, according to human rights advocates from the Washington, D.C.-based Refugees International.

The presence of 2.6 million displaced Iraqis persons is overwhelming to neighboring Middle East countries and is “undermining” to the social fabric of Iraq, said Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, at a speech made today at the National Press Club.

President Barack Obama talked about displacement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during his surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday.

Bacon is happy at what is being seen as a distinct change from the “little attention” that the Bush Administration paid to Iraqi displacement.

It is estimated that since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, 2.6 million Iraqi’s have lost their homes and have fled other parts of the country. An additional 2 million have fled to neighboring countries, including Syria, Jordan and Egypt.

Bacon said that greater American and international support in receiving refugees and providing financial-aid can help stop the crisis.

Displacement of that many people “affects the whole region”, said Bacon, which results in educated citizens and specialized workers fleeing the country.

There are only 18,000 practicing doctors in Iraq, down from 32,000 doctors in 2002. There are more Iraqi doctors in Jordan than in Iraq’s capitol city of Baghdad, Bacon said.

Last year Democratic Senators Robert Casey (PA) and Benjamin Cardin (MD) introduced a bill to increase aid to Iraqi refugees and allow more of them to enter the United States. Since the FY2010 Budget has been approved by Congress, any appropriated funds to help Iraqi citizens would have to come through additional legislation, Bacon said.

A spokesman for Senator Cardin said it has not been decided yet if similar legislation would be introduced in this Congress.

Refugee International’s Field Report on the Iraqi refugee situation said that the Iraqi government is trying to keep more of its citizens from fleeing their homeland. It is feared by the Iraqi government that the existence of so many refugees tarnishes the image of overall security within the country.

The report also said Iraq violated international refugee laws in 2007 by asking Syria not to accept any more Iraqi refugees.

Many refugees have fears of returning home, the report says, because many of those that returned already have been killed.

Kristele Younes, an advocate with Refugees International, says that security is a major issue in Iraqi neighborhoods, with each little borough acting as its own walled off “fiefdom”.

Younes said that the United Nations is trying to place a tourniquet on the flow of persons out of the country by the end of the year, but significant challenges remain in Iraq, including budgetary shortcomings due to low oil prices, corruption within the government and sectarianism.

The Refugees International’s report on Iraq can be found here.

Rape with impunity a part of every day life in the Congo

On his visit to Goma, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the UN's commitment to ending sexual violence throughout the country. At Heal Africa, a holistic center set up to provide psychological and medical healing to rape victims --some as young as two years of age, he spoke about the every day ills women in the country suffer.

Many women and young girls have suffered at the hands of Ugandan LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) and FDLR (Revolutionary Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) rebels who have fought over ownership of land thick with natural resources like gold and minerals. MONUC (The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) is dealing with these cases on a day by day basis as the increase of incidents citing brutal rape and other forms of sexual violence continue. TRNS sat down with Virginie Mumbre, a counselor at the Heal Africa center to find out the latest on these sex crimes.

UNDP: United States should lead multilateral global development process as policy for national security

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) roundtable discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discussed the future role of the United States in the global development process.

“We...can improve and strengthen our own interests as a country by helping to improve the lives of others all around the world,” said Reuben Brigety, Director of the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress. This is “quite revolutionary in the eyes of some people who consider themselves proper foreign policy experts or security experts.” Brigety spoke of the need for the United States to lead a multilateral effort with the UNDP in developing countries, avoiding natural disasters and strengthening national security. “I think that...there are enormous security challenges in many parts of the world, but I also think we are at a stage where we have the greatest political opportunity to address them,” said Brigety.

“There are thousands of people interested in this [foreign aid reform], and it’s not just the development community, it’s the foreign policy community, its the national security community that are not just supporting foreign aid reform and modernizing, they’re demanding it,” said George Ingram, Vice President & Executive Director of the Education Policy and Data Center at the Academy for Educational Development. “Obama has called for doubling the foreign assistance budget by 2021,” said Ingram, referring to the role the incoming administration has promised to embrace as a multilateral leader of global development.

“Multilateralism is...merged into some vague evil concept of supernationalism,” said Bruce Jenks, UN Assistant Secretary-General & Director of Partnership Bureau of the UNDP, “to me the irony is...it’s the opposite.” Jenks described that there was an enormous opportunity for the United States to lead a multilateral coalition. “Multilateralism needs to be seen as an instrument of choice in the national interest,” said Jenks. There’s “a myth...that multilateralism is an alternative to leadership...There’s no such thing as un-lead multilateralism or blind multilateralism, multilateralism must be lead.”

Opening of the UN General Assembly

At 3pm on September 16th, 2008, the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly was opened.
The new President of the General Assembly is Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, elected during the 62nd session. The current session will meet intensively until December, and then afterwards as needed, and involves representatives from all 192 Members of the United Nations.

The Assembly will debate issues such as development in Africa, human rights, humanitarian efforts, the promotion of international law and justice, combating terrorism, disarmament and the promotion of sustainable economic growth. Several high-level meetings will be held, for example on meeting the Millennium Development Goals, and other important business includes the election of five judges to the International Court of Justice.

Bullet Updates on Russia and Georgia

Recent Developments in the Russia-Georgia Conflict

By Amanda Grinstead, TRNS intern


Tuesday August 12th

* A Dutch cameraman, Stan Storimans of RTL TV, was killed in Gori, and the correspondent accompanying him was wounded.


* the UK-based oil company BP shut down 3 of its pipelines as a "precautionary measure" in response to fighting in the region.


* Russian officials claimed that their actions were aimed at stopping Georgia's military attacks on Russian peacekeeping forces and civilians, with one diplomat stating that as many as 2,000 people had perished after Georgia entered South Ossetia.


* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia had had no option but to use military force against Georgia: "If Russia had a different option of reacting to Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia, we would have used it," he said. "But we didn't have this option. When several thousand civilians are killed, the state must act accordingly."


* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, step down, although he said Russia was not demanding this.




Wednesday August 13th


* The French Presient Sarkozy, is to broker a 6-point ceasefire agreement between Russia and Georgia, to be submitted to the EU and then the UN Security Council. Sarkozy said that they are aiming to make the agreement "long-term".


* The terms included immediate ceasefire and allowing humanitarian aid access to the conflict regions.


* This was announced only hours after Russia withdrew its military incursion into Georgia.


* Reports claimed that there are 15,000 Russian troops present in Georgia.


* George Bush said that Russia's behaviour had seriously called into question its suitability as an ally of the US, and also that the G8 was considering expelling Russia as punishment for its aggression.


* Russia and Georgia both accused each other of breaking initial ceasefire.


* Lavrov claimed that Russian troops remain in Georgia to neutralise abandoned weapons arsenals and to enforce the peace that Georgia was ignoring.


* Saakashvili stated: "Russian tanks continue to ravage Georgia town and villages, killing people, destroying buildings, looting. ... They've been doing worse things to what I've heard in the past and I could never imagine happening in my country." He went on to blame the West, in part, for failing to respond to Russia adequately, and for failing to correctly read Russia's intentions in Georgia.


* Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that Georgian government officials had fled Gori, and that Russian soldiers were providing food and water to residents, although there were other reports of looting.




Thursday August 14th


* US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was to take a ceasefire document to Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, which offers a slight concession to Russia and closes the loophole left by Sarkozy's agreement: the French-brokered agreement allows for Russia to take "additional security measures" until an international agreement is reached- this was seen as permitting Russia to remain in Georgia outside the main zone of conflict. Under this ceasefire agreement 1,500 Russian peacekeeping troops are permitted to remain, and patrol up to 6 kilometers outside Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They may not patrol in Gori or any other cities, and may not hinder aid or control ports, highways or railways.




Friday August 15th


* Human Rights Watch said that there is evidence that Russia had been dropping cluster bombs on Georgian civilians, including over Gori, killing 11, and had also seen evidence that houses are being set on fire.


* Saakashvili signed the ceasefire agreement, brought by Rice to Tbilisi. It includes a provision for independent monitors and an eventual reconstruction plan for Georgia's economy.


* Rice and Saakashvili met for almost 5 hours to discuss the agreement. Rice said that the priority was now for Russia to withdraw.


* Later on Friday, Sarkozy says Medvedev confirmed Russia's cooperation.




Saturday August 16th


* Georgia accused Russian troops of mining and exploding a key railway bridge and starting huge fires in the Borjomi Gorge, in spite of the new ceasefire agreement.


* The bridge connects East and West Georgia and has been a main route for refugees fleeing the fighting- the Georgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs claimed that Russia was deliberately trying to bring about "humanitarian catastrophe".


* Georgia's Interior Ministry also said that Russian-backed militias members have seized control of 13 Georgian villages and a power plant in the region.


* Russian troops remained within 25 miles (40 kilometers) of Tbilisi and were on the western front of Abkhazia.




Sunday August 17th


* Russia stated that it would begin withdrawing its forces into a buffer zone and South Ossetia on Monday 18th.


* However, Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee, said Moscow will withdraw only when it is "assured that Georgians will not continue to use military force" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.




Monday August 18th


* Medvedev spoke, threatening punishment for the Georgians whom he claimed were responsible for ethnic cleansing in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia has made similar accusations of genocide.


* Georgia's ambassador to the United States, Vasil Sikharulidze, said the Russian push into Georgia had been long planned:
"You just don't move more than 1,200 tanks and 15,000 soldiers into a country within 12 hours without previous planning."


* The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that a Russian armoured column had been sighted moving deeper into Georgian territory, travelling south of Kashuri, which is roughly 10 miles south of South Ossetia.




Tuesday August 19th


* Hopes of peace were bolstered when Russia and Georgia exchanged captured soldiers, though later at the port of Poti Russia took 21 Georgian military police officers hostage, and reportedly seized 4 American military vehicles.


* In Brussels, at an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of NATO's members, NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer accused Russia of ignoring the terms of the ceasefire agreed last week by not withdrawing its troops to their positions before August 6th.


* Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov claimed that NATO is "biased" to Georgia's side, while Russian General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said that troops remained in order to protect the South Ossetia border.


* Ministers at the NATO meeting said that they were "seriously" considering the implications of Russia's actions on the NATO-Russia relationship. Scheffer said: "As long as Russian forces are basically occupying a large part of Georgia, I cannot see a NATO-Russia Council convene at whatever level."


* Scheffer stated that a NATO-Georgia Commission is to be set up to assess Georgia's relationship with NATO, supervise its bid for membership, and provide assistance in Tbilisi, the capital. 50 NATO staff are to be sent to Georgia to assist with air traffic control and assess the needs of Georgia's military.


* US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Russia was isolating itself by "invading smaller neighbours, bombing civilian infrastructure, going into villages and wreaking havoc and (carrying out) the wanton destruction of (Georgia's) infrastructure.


* The Bush administration claimed that Russia was trying to undermine Georgia because of the pro-West stance of its President, Saakashvili. Bush wants the suspension of all Russia-NATO cooperation for the moment, and also for Europe to lessen its dependence on Russia for energy supplies.


* Medvedev issued fresh commitment to withdraw, but at the same time pulled the Russian navy out of NATO exercises- relations between Russia and NATO are at an all-time low.


* The French presidency stated that: "President Medvedev announced to Sarkozy that the withdrawal of Russian troops will be concluded August 21-22, with the exception of a team of 500 personnel charged with implementing additional security measures under article five of the August 12 agreement."