Iraq
Ethnic Cleansing and Sectarian Violence:
We often hear of "sectarian violence," but seldom of ethnic cleansing in Iraq. It is true that violent attacks often target civilians because of their identity as either Sunni or Shia, but otherwise there is no real distinction between sectarian violence as it now exists in Iraq and ethnic cleansing. Sectarian violence now functions as a term that obscures the fact that ethnic cleansing is now taking place in Iraq.
Daily violence in Iraq in 2006 propelled massive forced migration on a scale that started to approach the level of flight the world witnessed in Yugoslavia during the 1990s. 50,000 Iraqis a month fled their homes for much of 2006.
Ethnic Cleansing Completed or Reversed?
The split between some Sunni forces and al Quaeda in
Articles and Reports on Ethnic Cleansing in Iraq:
UNHCR Conference on Refugees and Internally Displaced in Iraq
Damien McElroy, "Iraqi security forces are 'targetting Sunnis,'" Daily Telegraph, March 6, 2007
BBC, "Iraq's Mandaeans 'face extinction," March 4, 2007
Minority Rights Group International,Iraq's ignored minorities face extinction, February 26, 2007
Patrick Cockburn, "Iraqis abandon their homes in Middle East's new refugee exodus," The Independent, February 1, 2007
Iraq's Ancient Christian Community Dying
Ann Scott Tyson, Iraq Refugee Crisis Seen Deepening, Washington Post, January 17, 2007
UNHCR launches new US$60 million appeal for Iraq operations
Mark Kukis, "In Baghdad, a Last Stand Against Ethnic Cleansing," Time, Dec 28, 2006
Sudarsan Raghavan, "For Iraq's Sunnis, Conflict Closes In
Mixed Neighborhoods Unravel as Shiite Militiamen Expand Violence," Dec 10, 2006, Washington Post
Refugees International, Iraq: The World's Fastest Growing Refugee Crisis, December 4, 2006
Refugees International, Iraqi Refugees: Stories of Persecution and Flight
Mark Kukis, “Inside an Iraqi Battleground Neighborhood,” Time, November 25, 2006
“Numbers of Displaced Rise Inexorably,” International Organization for Migration, 03-10-2006,
Refugees and IDPS:
At a minimum many tens of thousands of Iraqis have become internally displaced persons. They have not crossed state boundaries, but have found shelter in Iraq, though often in substandard conditions.
Many others have fled the country with very large numbers crossing into Syria and Jordan.
Victims of Ethnic Cleansing in Iraq:
Sunnis have been cleared out of entire neighborhoods in much of Baghdad, especially from eastern sections of the city, and Shiites have suffered a similar fate in some Sunni-controlled neighborhoods.
Meanwhile violent attacks and threats have driven many of Iraq's Christians out of the country.
The Displaced: