Iraq's Neighbors Turn Away Refugees

U.S. News Senior Editor Kevin Whitelaw reports:

Iraq's neighbors are turning away more and more Iraqi refugees trying to flee the violence there, according to a prominent human rights group. Jordan and Egypt in particular are blasted for turning away refugees, while Saudi Arabia is spending $7 billlion on high-tech measures to keep Iraqis out, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. Some refugees are even being deported, the group warns. Syria is one of the only countries still admitting large numbers of Iraqis. The United States, for example, recently agreed to admit up to 7,000 refugees, although Human Rights Watch says that only about 3,000 are likely to arrive.

An estimated 2 million Iraqis have fled Iraq and another 2 million have left their homes but remain in Iraq. U.S. News recently reported on the plight of these refugees. At a United Nations conference in Geneva on the refugee crisis today, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Iraq's neighbors to reopen their borders to Iraqis. Aid agencies are warning that hospitals in Jordan and Syria are being overwhelmed by the needs of the Iraqi refugees.