Iraq Five Years Later – Iraqi Association Statement

As the Iraq War enters its tragic sixth year, its becoming hard to imagine a time when refugees can go home without fear. More than 4 million Iraqis have been uprooted, either fled to the neighbouring countries or displaced internally. "Our families are being ripped apart, enough is enough?" Said Jabbar Hasan of Iraqi Association in London.

So far, the international community has failed to address adequately Iraq's spiraling displacement crisis. It has failed to help the basic needs of so many Iraqis - to shelter, health care and education - and to offer the possibility of resettlement to the most vulnerable among the refugees. Some states have put the lives of Iraqis at further risk by refusing to offer them sanctuary, cutting off their assistance or forcibly returning them to Iraq despite the risks that they face there in central and southern Iraq.

“Many Iraqi interpreters, who were employed of the British army, have been murdered by extremists and terrorists; others are fleeing from death squads but abandoned by the Home Office to grant them sanctuary.” Said Jabbar Hasan.

While sectarianism is not ingrained in poverty stricken communities of Baghdad but fostered by the politics of bigotry and intimidation. The venom of this violence is not only affecting people in Iraq, but many of our community members here also lost family members, relatives and friends.

The Iraqi government has failed to introduce practical measures to deal with the gross and serious human rights violations perpetrated by its security forces. There appears to be no serious willingness to investigate properly the many incidents of abuses, including killings of civilians, torture and rape, and to bring those responsible to justice. The government has also been unable to ban militia groups. In Basra alone, more than 150 women have been murdered in the last 12 months, equally many journalists were assassinated.

Despite the promises of speedy reconstruction after the invasion, economic recovery looks a similarly distant prospect. The reconstruction has been exceedingly slow, partly due to the violence but also because of poor planning, shortages of qualified and experienced personnel and widespread corruption.