{"id":1658,"date":"2009-03-23T23:54:20","date_gmt":"2009-03-24T03:54:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2015-11-24T15:59:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T20:59:21","slug":"social-work-researchers-studying-relief-efforts-for-iraqi-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2009\/03\/social-work-researchers-studying-relief-efforts-for-iraqi-refugees\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Work Researchers Studying Relief Efforts for Iraqi Refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Scott<\/a>
Scott Harding, left, and Kathryn Libal in Amman, Jordan, where they are studying the Iraqi refugee population. Photo supplied by Kathryn Libal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite its small size and fragile economy, Jordan hosts about half a million forced migrants and refugees who have fled Iraq since the United States-led war began in 2003, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Researchers Kathryn Libal and Scott Harding, both assistant professors in the School of Social Work, say the media have focused on U.S. military casualties and other costs of the war in Iraq, and the success of the \u201csurge\u201d of U.S. troops in the past year, while the displacement crisis has been largely ignored.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis humanitarian crisis \u2013 both inside and outside of Iraq \u2013 has long-term consequences for Iraq and neighboring countries,\u201d Harding says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re concerned about stability and so-called security of the region, it\u2019s important to understand that Jordan and Syria can\u2019t absorb large numbers of people who don\u2019t have a means to provide for themselves. And if you have generations of young Iraqis who aren\u2019t in school learning a trade, that poses societal and potential security issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon have the largest numbers of Iraqi refugees.<\/p>\n

Libal and Harding are studying refugee relief efforts provided by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies, and the U.S. government to help develop insights into the evolving nature of humanitarian support for these refugee populations.<\/p>\n

Harding says little attention has been paid to the roles these organizations play in shaping and sustaining refugee services in Jordan.<\/p>\n

Since 2006, the two researchers have been conducting research to identify the ways in which services are being provided to Iraqi refugees in Jordan. They conducted interviews in the U.S. with NGOs and human rights groups, and then in Jordan, interviewing representatives of organizations working on humanitarian issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought that some of the established humanitarian organizations would have a much more visible presence there,\u201d Libal says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought they\u2019d be providing a lot of services to a lot of refugees, but that wasn\u2019t the case. There were few refugee camps, because most of the people were urban refugees. A significant number were doctors and medical professionals, which will have a long-term effect on the health and well-being of people living in Iraq.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iraqi refugees do not have legal refugee status in their host countries, Libal says: \u201cLife is difficult for them. Most will not be granted permission to permanently resettle to the United States or other resettlement countries, and they can\u2019t work legally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harding says that under pressure from the NGOs and the U.S., during the past year, the Jordanian government has begun allowing Iraqi children to attend public school. But even though the children are now eligible, for a variety of reasons school attendance is uneven.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a fear of being visible, again linked to the issue of not having legal status,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The organizations the two have interviewed say that Jordan and Syria are ill-equipped to handle large populations for a long period of time, says Harding.<\/p>\n

Adds Libal, \u201cThey\u2019re both developing countries. They have their own vulnerable populations, so to absorb another large population makes it even more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

While continuing to examine how NGOs are working to meet the needs of Iraqis on the ground in Jordan and Syria, the researchers are also interested in the work done by these groups in Washington.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been interviewing resettlement agencies in the U.S. to understand how they\u2019re working to help Iraqis settle here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re interested in the struggles they face in this country, and what resources are available to them through agencies and state policies,\u201d Libal says.<\/p>\n

Harding notes that the NGOs had some success in getting the Bush administration to support the refugee cause: the U.S. set a formal target to admit about 15,000 Iraqis per year over the next five years.<\/p>\n

But globally, Iraqi refugees are stymied, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though more are registering with the UN to be resettled, there are few who are actually resettled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Libal says the organizations interviewed say that resettlement will never be a viable option for most Iraqis: \u201cThey don\u2019t see the world community being willing to take huge numbers of refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the NGOs have said the U.S. President has a key role to play in asserting the importance of addressing refugee and displacement needs, she says: \u201cThey\u2019ve said if the president doesn\u2019t take a leadership role, it\u2019s very difficult to get other countries to participate in the endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harding adds that while there is a debate in social science literature about the role of humanitarian groups, their own research shows that these groups play a vital role: \u201cBecause of the pressure and political advocacy of these groups, U.S. policy has changed significantly and the United Nations has done more. Advocacy does work, even on a global level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The displacement of half a million people from Iraq as a result of the U.S.-led war is a humanitarian crisis that has long-term consequences for Iraq and neighboring countries, according to social work researchers Kathryn Libal and Scott Harding. Yet, they say, while the media have focused on U.S. military casualties and other costs of the war in Iraq, the displacement crisis has been largely ignored. Since 2006, the two researchers have been studying how services are being provided to Iraqi refugees in Jordan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1870,1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[59],"class_list":["post-1658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ssw","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 00:49:28","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1658"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106108,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1658\/revisions\/106108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=1658"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}