One in five Iraqis have been displaced. According to the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration in 2007, almost 5 million Iraqis had been displaced by violence in their country, the vast majority of which had fled since 2003. Over 2.4 million vacated their homes for safer areas within Iraq, up to 1.5 million were living in Syria, and over 1 million refugees were inhabiting Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Gulf States. Most Iraqis are determined to be resettled to Europe or North America, and few consider return to Iraq an option. Iraqis have no legal work options in most host countries and are increasingly desperate and in need of humanitarian assistance. They face challenges in finding housing, obtaining food, and have trouble accessing host countries’ health and education systems. Their resources depleted, small numbers of Iraqis have returned to Iraq in the past few months, but Iraq’s struggling government recently warned that it can’t accommodate large numbers of returns. Most of those who returned were subsequently displaced again....
A man looks at debris in the aftermath of an air strike in Hay al-Turath district, southwestern Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, May 7, 2008. According to eyewitnesses, US helicopters fired missiles targeting several gunmen. Three civilians died and seven were wounded in the shelling. (AP Photo/Loay Hameed)
Iraqi Strikes Truce with Forces Loyal to Shi'ite Cleric (click title to entry)
By VOA News 10 May 2008
An aide to radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says the movement has reached a cease-fire with the government to end fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City.
The aide announced the truce Saturday in Najaf. Sheik Salah al-Obeidi says the agreement will take effect on Sunday.
Fighting in Sadr City has intensified since late March, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on Shi'ite militias loyal to the anti-American cleric. Hundreds of people have been killed.
In the latest violence, Iraqi medics in Sadr City say 13 people, including women and children, have been killed and 77 others wounded in clashes between U.S. forces and Shi'ite militias since Friday....
