Nearly two million Iraqis have fled their war-torn home and settled in neighbouring countries, triggering fears of a regional refugee crisis, writes Salah Hemeid As plans to bring democracy in Iraq have given way to brutal sectarian infighting, many Iraqis have responded by leaving the country and seeking refuge with their regional neighbours. Cairo and the capitals of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are bustling with Iraqi refugees who fled the increasingly bloody violence in their homeland. Thousands more are fleeing every day, as their political leaders wrangle over any solution that can stop the bloodshed. In the nearly four years since the United States invaded Iraq, Syria has seen an influx of nearly two million Iraqis, according to United Nations estimates. Parts of Damascus might as well be called Little Baghdad. The cafés are full of Iraqis discussing the latest news from home, and the streets are jammed with thousands of cars with Iraqi plates. A group of Iraqis gathered around a table in a Damascus downtown café one evening last week, as the voice of a prominent Iraqi singer resonated from a cassette recorder nearby in a melancholy tone; Last night, Iraq came into my dreams, I asked him, How are you my homeland? Oh, you the father of all civilisations, The father of the runaway horses, The father of gifted brains. I asked him, Why are you alone sinking in blood? I asked him, Why is the whole world fighting you? I asked him, When are we going to return to your warm and tolerant chest? He answered me, Come to me my son, Let me take you into my arms, Wipe down your tears, Be assured that in the end, We are the winners. The rate of the influx is gathering pace. The United Nations estimated in early November that 100,000 Iraqis still flee the country every month. After Jordan -- where some 500,000 Iraqis fled -- made entry more difficult earlier this year, Syria has become the new top destination, with some 2,000 a day entering, according to the UN count. Syrian officials estimate that some 780,000 Iraqis have arrived since 2003, far more than in any other country in the region. In Damascus, they lead an arduous existence, often without incomes and with little or nothing left of their savings. Many tell stories of fleeing threats of kidnapping by criminal gangs or militias implicated in the country's vicious sectarian death- squad killings. "How can we be winners when we have lost every thing, our houses, our jobs and even our country," said Imad Dawoud, referring to the song which was still playing. "When will this misery come to an end so we can return home," bemoaned Sabri Al-Azzawi, a pilot in Saddam's army, who was among the men in the café. He left Iraq with his family after a militia tried to kill him. Ahmed Al-Sayeigh, a businessman who was also at the table, was once abducted by a gang and freed only after his family paid a $30,000 ransom. "What has happened to us? Who would have ever thought that we would reach this abyss? Is this real or just a nightmare?" asked Safwan Jassim, a university professor who was forced to leave his house after sectarian violence hit his Baghdad neighbourhood. Another refugee, Abdel-Karim Rashid, said he was about to be killed while en route to the Syrian border by an armed man who insisted he reveal if he was a Shiite or Sunni when they stopped his bus. They were looking for Shiites to murder. "Because my name doesn't indicate my identity, I am still alive. Had they discovered that I was Shia, they would have chopped my head off," he said. Most of the displaced Iraqis feel they were lucky to make it to Syria, though they have no jobs and have now to struggle to hold on to their families. Syria, with its 18 million people and enormous economic problems, provides Iraqis free health care and schooling. But many Iraqis complain that they feel unwelcome. For example, landlords increase rent regularly and threaten to evict those who cannot pay. Wealthy Iraqis can open businesses, helping boost Syria's feeble economy, but Iraqi professionals such as doctors, lawyers and teachers are not permitted to work. Syria does not require entry visas from Arabs, but the three- months residency is renewable only once, so those who wish to stay longer have to leave the country and come back. Since other countries impose strict visa regulations on Iraqis, the refugees have either to stay illegally in Syria, facing huge fines, or return to Iraq risking their lives. The influx of refugees from the war next door has meant higher prices for essentials like food, gas and housing. In fact, house prices in some neighbourhoods have more than doubled in the last year alone, angering many Syrians. In a report issued last week, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said that Jordan has tightened its entry rules, refusing to renew visas for Iraqis and turning new refugees away at the border. Heavy fines are imposed on those caught staying beyond their visas, and those who can't pay are sometimes forced to return to Iraq, the report said. In early November, the UN said 1.8 million Iraqis were living in other Arab countries. However, this figure included those who had left before the 2003 invasion. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Syria said it has noticed a significant increase in the number of Iraqis fleeing for safety in Syria and Egypt, another major destination. "More and more people are coming every day," said Laurens Jolles, head of the UNHCR office in Damascus. "We are drawing contingency plans," he added. Human rights and aid groups warn that if the violence continues unabated in Iraq, its neighbours could face a burgeoning refugee crisis. Rights groups allege that increasing numbers of Iraqi refugees are being turned away at the borders. Egypt has relaxed visa restrictions on Iraqis earlier this year, and since then, an estimated 150,000 Iraqis have fled here, according to Egyptian government officials. Most Iraqis live in Cairo's suburbs where they can find cheap apartments in places long scorned by Cairenes as too far away. Yet even as they come, many Iraqis say they feel deeply unwelcome. Egypt, with its 77 million people and enormous economic troubles, requires Iraqis to obtain an entry visa through travel agents in Baghdad who charge $100 or more. Only a three-months stay is permitted, and a longer permit is usually not guaranteed, leaving those who wish to stay bewildered about their business plans and children's education. While thousands of Iraqis, mostly Turkomans and Christians, have fled to Turkey, some Iraqis have gone as far as Europe to seek asylum. Another 1.5 million people are displaced inside Iraq, many of them clamouring to leave but lacking the resources. Humanitarian agencies fear this group will drive any continued exodus that could quickly double the already massive refugee population in the region. The mass migration out of the country is transforming the region's culture, a Diaspora rivalled in size only by the three million exiled Palestinians, made refugees by conflicts with Israel dating back to 1948. With no end in sight to the fighting in Iraq, governments in the Middle East worry that Iraqis are becoming the new Palestinians -- a permanent refugee population that will import its sectarian and religious squabbles into the host countries. Such fears have been made reality recently, as government officials in some of the host countries reported recently that Iraqi refugees were involved in sectarian wrangling between Shia and Sunni groups.
