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169 An anticipated consequence of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in  was the displacement of a proportion of the Iraqi population. Population displacement and refugee movements as a result of conflicts have been known phenomena for much of the ancient and modern eras. In the last century the international community has put processes, legal instruments, and agencies in place to deal with such displacement. Today’s question is, how adequate are these responses? This chapter argues that the protection and assistance received by the vast majority of the forcibly displaced no longer meet minimum standards. It will examine the present-day international response to those displaced by the Iraqi war in an attempt to ascertain the characteristics of a contemporary displaced population, the needs of this population, and the responses available to them. In recent times, even though the number of refugees (those people who cross borders because of a well-founded fear of persecution) is lower than in the s, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been called upon to provide assistance and protection to an increasing number of forced migrants, many of whom are outside the agency’s original mandate. Now more than ever, the world recognizes that there are mixed populations of forced migrants and complex explanations for the reasons these people have felt compelled to leave their homes. Current attempts to adapt existing responses to these newer displaced populations, as well as more familiar displaced groups, are stretched thin. Adequate responses are not in place when new crises erupt. António Guterres, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, has declared the twenty-first century the century of migration. It has begun with multiple patterns of movement and forced displacement, where the number of internally displaced people outstrips the number of refugees by more than two to one, and where an estimated  million people work in countries where they do not have citizenship. The challenges of this reality are enormous, and existing institutions struggle to respond adequately to these people’s needs. Arguably, it is the people on the move who can give us the best insight into the response required for those who are displaced and the yawning gaps that are opening up in these responses. 8 The Experience of Displacement by Conflict The Plight of Iraqi Refugees Maryanne Loughry 170 Maryanne Loughry Forced Migration Today More than a half century has passed since nations responded to events following World War II and established the office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees as well as signing into effect the  United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees to protect those who had left their country, fleeing persecution and war. Those who were not identified as refugees were seen to be migrants. While the definition has never been completely straightforward, there is now considerable complexity surrounding issues of who is a refugee, who lives in refugee-like settings but has not crossed a border, who is a forced migrant, and who is a migrant. Linked to the complexity of defining these groups of people on the move is the concern of who and which international agencies are responsible for assisting and protecting them. Many now argue that the concept of “refugee” is too limited and that the traditional distinctions between refugees, internally displaced people, and international immigrants have become blurred, given the realities of modern-day population movement. The roots of migration are multifaceted, with ever-increasing numbers of people being forced to move because of the growing links between a number of causes, including extreme economic deprivation, climate change and the resulting environmental degradation, and conflict. The majority of those who are forced to move today do so because of more than one of these causes, and in their various displacement settings they are frequently in dire need of protection and assistance; yet they are not, according to the  Refugee Convention, considered to be refugees. The face of forced migration today is significantly different from the reality that was being addressed in , when the Refugee Convention was drafted, and in , when the international community last adopted a protocol that modified the way the Convention was to be interpreted in the light of the refugee reality at the time. In today’s reality, four key factors shape contemporary experiences of forced displacement : the majority of those displaced are in refugee-like settings within the borders of their own country (internally displaced persons); those who do cross borders...

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