Iraqi Provinces Shut Out Internal Refugees

Most of Iraq's provinces have closed their doors to people fleeing conflict elsewhere in the country, cutting off a vital escape route for people threatened by sectarian violence.

According to aid officials, 10 out of 18 of Iraq's governorates are denying entry to civilians trying to escape the fighting or denying them aid once they have arrived, or both. An 11th, Babylon, also tried to shut out displaced families in recent months but was persuaded by the central government in Baghdad to relent for the time being.

With the imposition of visa restrictions by Jordan and Syria, hitherto the main destination for Iraqi refugees, those seeking safety from Iraq's ceaseless bloodshed have virtually run out of options.

"There are more and more makeshift camps in abysmal conditions, with terrible sanitation and water supply, very little or no health care, and no schools," Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN high commissioner for refugees, said yesterday.

About 4.5 million Iraqis (one in six of the population) have been forced to flee their homes since the 2003 invasion - the worst refugee crisis in the Middle East for more than half a century. Nearly half have gone to neighboring countries, primarily Syria and Jordan, and the other half have sought refuge elsewhere in Iraq. Very few have made it to the US or Europe, which have drastically cut the admission of Iraqi refugees since the start of the war.

Out of 740 rulings on the fate of Iraqi refugees last year Britain granted asylum to 30, according to Home Office figures.

The US allowed entry to 535 Iraqis last year, less than a fifth of the number it accepted in 2000, three years before the war began.

Iraq's neighbors and its relatively safe provinces have now exhausted their capacity to absorb more refugees, said Dana Graber Ladek, of the International Office for Migration (IOM)."They are trying to restrict the flow at checkpoints, and they are asking the local branches of the ministry of displacement and migration not to register any more IDPs [internally displaced people]," Ms Ladek said

But staying at home is often not an option either. The US troop surge has not reduced the rate at which Iraqis are being forced to flee their homes - about 60,000 a month. There has been little material support from the west. The IOM says it has received only a fifth of its $85m (£42.5m) appeal to cover the next two years.

Jordan closed most of its border crossings earlier this year and announced its intention to impose visa restrictions. Syria said last week it would only give visas to businessmen and academics.