00:00 (file)Aerials
bombed village, Kosovo. General shots UNHCR camp in Kosovo.
Guide Voice: United Nations agencies have
predicted that nearly 1.5 million refugees are likely to try and
flee from Iraq after the war. Yet refugee experts have warned that
planning for a refugee crisis is woefully inadequate. The main
reason for this is that the UN did not want to prepare while
article 1441 was being discussed, so the United Nations Refugee
Commission could not consult the US military or appeal to donor
governments for emergency funds.
00:31 Graphic
sequence, map of Iraq and neighbouring countries, showing refugee
movement
(file)
picture UNHCR worker in Kosovo
Guide Voice: The Iraqi
refugees will flee into neighbouring countries like Jordan, Syria,
Iran and Turkey. Experience suggests that the initial response of
the International community will be to insist that these refugees
remain in the region, but Iraq's neighbouring countries are
under-resourced to cope with this burden.
00:50 Gil Loescher, International
Institute for Strategic Studies - "There are
large numbers of Iraqis already in these countries. And on top of
the Iraqis, there are hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees
being hosted in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and large numbers of other
third country nationals."
01:09 Gil Loescher,
International Institute for Strategic Studies -
"If there's anything we've learned about international
refugee assistance in recent years is that aid for an international
attention for - towards protracted refugee situations around the
world is not very great."
01:23 Asylum
seekers queuing outside Lunar House, Croydon, England, where asylum
applications are processed
in
the UK
Guide Voice: Conditions in
these regions will create a secondary movement of Iraqi refugees
into the European Union. The political climate in the EU has
changed considerably since the Kosovo conflict and refugee
organisations have warned that asylum seekers should expect a much
cooler reception. This year British Prime Minister Tony Blair
pledged to halve the number of asylum seekers entering the country
and recent legislation has focused on further restrictions on entry
and support for Asylum Seekers.
02:00 Nawzad Awchi, Refugee
Community Worker, Nottingham - "Rather than
looking at cases as an individual they looking at the number of
people who are coming to this country in one certain time or one
month or one year and to try to um accept this amount of people and
refuse this amount of cases".
02:24 Aris Sula, Volunteer, Refugee
Forum, Nottingham - "When I arrived obviously I was
allowed to work after six months. I had to apply for a work permit
after six months. But now you're not allowed to work at all until
your decision has been made".
02:37 Aris Sula, Volunteer, Refugee
Forum, Nottingham - "I came six years ago and my
decision wasn't made until three and a half years after. So
obviously if I didn't have the right to work for three and a half
years, I wouldn't have been able to do what I have done. So
obviously that is a waste um for these people actually sitting back
and doing nothing while they're waiting for the
decision".
02:58 (file)
Refugees in Kosovo boarding buses under UNHCR supervision
Guide Voice: Recent debate
within Europe has been about creating safe areas near the region of
conflict. These would be protected by the UN and Asylum seekers
would be returned there. Refugees would stay in the safe havens
until their countries had been stabilised.
03:18 Gil Loescher, International
Institute For Strategic Studies - "Conditions in
these regions to which UK ministers would like to return refugees
are anything but safe for refugees. All these countries have severe
protection problems".
03:33 Asylum
seekers queuing outside Lunar House, Croydon, England, where asylum
applications are processed
in
the UK
Guide Voice: The main
emphasis in the migration and asylum policies of the EU has been on
entry restriction and control of migratory flows. Perhaps policies
are needed that address why refugees leave home in the first
place.
03:51 Gil Loescher, International
Institute for Strategic Studies - "As a matter of
first order in terms of policy, it makes common sense for
governments to improve conditions in host countries in regions of
origin, to actually increase their external involvement, their
external engagement, in terms of development aid, in terms of
political diplomacy, in terms of, you know, resolving long-staying
conflicts that prevent people from returning home".
04:34 VNR
ENDS
