Writing in The New York Review of Books , the former cardinal archbishop of Washington reports on the refugees the Iraq war has created , including the Christian refugees, who face constant threats of Islamist violence (the archbishop uses the word “sectarian”) as well as homelesssness. 2.5 million Iraqis have fled the country, he writes, while another 2 million are “internally displaced.”
What, he asks, should the U.S. and other countries do?
First, they must not assume that an end to military involvement marks the beginning of a withdrawal of humanitarian support. As a moral matter, we should not claim victory in Iraq while there are millions of Iraqis who have lost their homes, have little hope of reclaiming them, and are now forced to live in extremely difficult conditions . . . .
A first step would be to meet the UNHCR ’s annual funding request [$700 million], at a minimum, and accept for resettlement the number of refugees recommended by that agency during the coming years.
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