Refugees International advocates will be traveling to Syria and Jordan from February 2nd to February 16th, 2008 to conduct a follow-up assessment mission on the humanitarian response to the Iraqi displacement crisis in the region and inside Iraq. The Refugees International (RI) team, which visited Syria, Jordan, and Egypt in late 2007, will evaluate the overall effectiveness of the response to the needs of refugees and of efforts to provide assistance and protection to groups that are particularly vulnerable.

The security situation inside Iraq continues to deteriorate and Iraqis are still forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. RI’s last mission to the region documented the need for an increase in the international response to the refugee crisis, in particular bilateral assistance to host countries dealing with large Iraqi refugee populations that are an additional strain on their basic infrastructure and resources. RI continues to be concerned about the growing number of Iraqis who are displaced inside Iraq, particularly vulnerable groups including women and children, who have little access to humanitarian assistance.

The mission will evaluate how international and national aid agencies and the governments of Iraq, Syria, and Jordan are responding to the large-scale displacement. In addition, RI will assess how the UN Iraq Country Team is coordinating its response inside Iraq, based on additional research being conducted by consultants inside the country. The mission will focus on the degree to which responses to assistance needs have included protection components, and will examine how the international response is being coordinated, as well as efforts to find longer term solutions for the displaced.