POMED Notes: Iraq’s Refugee and IDP Crisis
August 11th, 2008 by Sarah
Today, the Middle East Institute invited Dr. Phebe Marr and Elizabeth Ferris to discuss the Iraqi dislocation within and beyond its border and its effect on political stability in Iraq and the region. Dr. Phebe Marr is a former professor at National Defense University. Elizabeth Ferris is co-director of the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Amb. Wendy Chamberlain, President of MEI, moderated the event.
Both guests spoke of the need to improve Iraqi governance, including health services, schools, and infrastructure, in order to entice Iraqi refugees to voluntarily return to Iraq in order to help rebuild their country.
For POMED’s full notes, click here.
Posted in Democracy Promotion, Event Notes, Human Rights, Iraq, US foreign policy |
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August 11th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
This event certainly lacked critical perspectives on the Iraqi refugee and IDP crisis. While the speakers acknowledged that the media has largely ignored the humanitarian aspect of the Iraq war, this panel could have done more to spark the dialogue.
As the event was more of a pitch for MEI’s “Special Viewpoints Launch” on its website than a policy debate, there was little interest in the practicalities of averting humanitarian crisis. The Marr’s main message was to avoid a “brain drain” in Iraq– to what extent has that already happened? As Arab leaders fear that Iraqi refugees might refocus Palestinian efforts for permanent settlement in Jordan and Syria, MEI really missed the point.
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