Background Briefing

Recommendations

To All Countries Bordering Iraq

  • Scrupulously observe the fundamental principle of nonrefoulement—including non-rejection at the border and ports of entry.
  • Admit at least temporarily all Iraqi asylum seekers, Palestinian refugees, and Iranian Kurdish refugees residing in Iraq, who seek asylum at your borders.
  • Cooperate with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the registration of Iraqi asylum seekers and refugees.
  • Provide renewable residency permits and work authorization for Iraqis registered by UNHCR.
  • Ensure the right of all children, regardless of residency status, to free and compulsory primary education, as guaranteed in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • Ensure compliance with the principle of family unity by allowing and facilitating the exit of family members from Iraq and their entry to countries of asylum where their relatives are located.
  • Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Syria should accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and Turkey should drop its geographical limitation to the Convention and Protocol.  In consultation with UNHCR, all countries in the region should establish domestic refugee laws and build infrastructures for processing asylum claims and providing protection for refugees.

To Other Members of the Arab League

  • Contribute quickly and generously both bilaterally and through UNHCR to meet the humanitarian and protection needs of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees from Iraq in Jordan, Syria, and other countries of first asylum, as well as internally displaced people inside Iraq.
  • In a spirit of humanitarian solidarity with fellow Arab League members shouldering the double burden of Palestinian and now Iraqi refugees, and in order to convince those countries to maintain first asylum for Iraqi and new Palestinian refugees from Iraq, consider a significant program of refugee resettlement to provide for more equitable burden sharing in a region that has deep cultural and historical ties with the Iraqi and Palestinian people.

To the United States and the United Kingdom

  • Acknowledge your particular responsibilities for Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons by contributing quickly and generously both bilaterally and through UNHCR to meet the humanitarian and protection needs of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees from Iraq in Jordan, Syria , and other countries of first asylum, as well as internally displaced people inside Iraq.
  • Institute significant refugee resettlement programs not only to identify refugees of special humanitarian concern because of their ties to the United States or the United Kingdom, but also to preserve asylum and the right to seek asylum in neighboring countries.
  • As a matter of urgency, facilitate the evacuation of Palestinian refugees seeking to leave Iraq.  Encourage Israel, in the absence of a resolution of the broader Palestinian refugee issue, to allow Palestinian refugees from Iraq to return at least to areas now administered by the Palestinian National Authority.  Offer to resettle Palestinians from Iraq to the United States and the United Kingdom who are unable or unwilling to return to their places of origin.
  • Provide temporary or permanent asylum, as appropriate, to Iraqi asylum seekers on your territory and at your borders and ports of entry, and scrupulously observe the principle of nonrefoulement.
  • Urge the governments of neighboring states not to deport Iraqi asylum seekers and refugees and Palestinian refugees from Iraq fleeing persecution and violence.  While providing financial and resettlement support to these countries, insist that they keep their borders open to these refugees and asylum seekers and that refugees and asylum seekers fleeing Iraq be treated in accordance with international standards.

To All Donor Governments and the International Community

  • Contribute quickly and generously both bilaterally and through UNHCR to meet the humanitarian and protection needs of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees from Iraq in Jordan, Syria, and other countries of first asylum, as well as internally displaced people inside Iraq.
  • Provide both temporary and permanent asylum, as appropriate, to Iraqi and Palestinian refugees fleeing war and persecution in Iraq who seek asylum in the territories, borders, or ports of entry of any country, and scrupulously observe the principle of nonrefoulement.
  • Provide third-country resettlement possibilities for Iraqi refugees, Iranian Kurdish refugees, and Palestinian refugees from Iraq in order to maintain at least temporary asylum in Jordan, Syria, and other countries in the region that are struggling to cope with the influx of refugees from Iraq.
  • Urge the governments of neighboring states not to deport Iraqi asylum seekers and refugees and Palestinian refugees from Iraq fleeing persecution and violence.  While providing financial and resettlement support to these countries, insist that they keep their borders open to these refugees and asylum seekers and that refugees and asylum seekers fleeing Iraq be treated in accordance with international standards.