Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2009 This Way Please: The Role of the Middle East and the United States in Shaping the Iraqi Refugee Crisis Blake A. Draper Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PUBLIC POLICY THIS WAY PLEASE: THE ROLE OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE UNITED STATES IN SHAPING THE IRAQI REFUGEE CRISIS By BLAKE A. DRAPER A Thesis submitted to the Department of International Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2009 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Blake A. Draper defended on November 6th, 2009. ____________________ Peter Garretson Professor Directing Thesis ____________________ Elwood Carlson Committee Member ____________________ Mark Souva Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii I dedicate this thesis to the people of Iraq, who continue to suffer the indignities and hardships brought upon them by decades of tyrannical rule and persistent conflict. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to thank Cadence Kidwell for being a dedicated educator who encouraged me to pursue my desire to research and write. I also thank Monsignor William Kerr for his life-long dedication to peace through education and his guiding role in so many lives. It was a conversation with him that launched this thesis long before the writing began. I thank my sister Autumn and brother-in-law Jeff for opening their home to me as I finished work on this thesis and figured out many other things in my life. Thanks to Dr. Peter Garretson for agreeing to oversee my work and being always patient and supportive. Finally, thank you to Mike for the all- important technical support. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................................................vi List of Figures............................................................................................................vii List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................viii Abstract......................................................................................................................ix INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 1. CONTEXT AND CAUSES...................................................................................4 2. DESTINATION CHOICES...................................................................................13 Overview of Destination Choices ..................................................................13 Overview of Religious Identity......................................................................17 Overview of Legal Status ..............................................................................20 Examination of Destination Choices .............................................................21 Syria...................................................................................................21 Jordan.................................................................................................28 Lebanon .............................................................................................33 Egypt..................................................................................................39 Turkey................................................................................................41 Iran .....................................................................................................43 Gulf Cooperation Council..................................................................44 3. THE ROLE OF THE UNITED STATES..............................................................46 Preparation for a Refugee Problem................................................................47 US Role in Mitigation....................................................................................51 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................63 APPENDICIES..........................................................................................................66 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................73 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .....................................................................................77 v LIST OF TABLES 1. UNHCR end-of-year figures for total registered Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers, 1978-2008. ................................................................................6 2. Estimated number of Iraqi refugees as of August 2008, compared to host country regular population. ...........................................................14 3. Per capita GDP in Iraqi-refugee accepting Middle Eastern states.........................16 4. Religious identity of Iraqi UNHCR-registered refugee population, by percent, as of August 2008. ..................................................................................18 5. Funding appropriations for Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund Project Code 04000, Migration and Refugee Assistance, fiscal years 2004-2008, in millions of US dollars. ..............................................................50 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1. Total UNHCR-registered Iraqi refugees worldwide, 1978-2008. .........................7 2. Proportion of religious identities, UNHCR-registered Iraqi refugees as of August 2008........................................................................................19 3. UNHCR referrals for Iraqi refugees versus arrivals to the US, February 2007 – January 2008...................................................................................59 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DART Disaster Assistance Response Team GCC Gulf Cooperation Council GDP Gross Domestic Product ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDP Internally Displaced Person IOM International Organization for Migration IRRF Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund MECC Middle East Council of Churches MOU Memorandum of Understanding NGO Non-governmental Organization OFDA Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance OPE Overseas Processing Entity PRM Population, Refugees and Migration (Bureau of the US State Department) UAE United Arab Emirates UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees USAID United States Agency for International Development USRAP United States Refugee Admissions Program SIV Special Immigrant Visa TPR Temporary Protection Regime viii ABSTRACT The Iraqi Refugee Crisis began in 2006 as a result of the instability and violence that prevailed in Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion and occupation. Instead of being directed to camps, Iraqis flowed across international borders of Middle Eastern states nearby Iraq to live in urban centers and face varying levels of legal accommodation and deteriorating economic security. The policies of individual states in the Middle East, along with complex demographic factors, have influenced where Iraqis have gone. The role of the United States in affecting the destination choices of Iraqis is examined in this paper because of the powerful position of the US in the Middle East region and its role in creating the refugee crisis. The evidence reveals that the diplomatic relations between Middle East host countries and the United States, and the self- serving political interests of those states has created and maintained a regime in which Iraqi refugees are stuck primarily in host countries along Iraq’s western border. The states involved in the Iraqi Refugee Crisis have applied political self-interest to their adherence to mechanisms of international law to which they are subject. A realist perspective of international relations is employed to explain the stability-seeking, risk-averse behavior of the states influencing the direction of migration. The purpose of this paper is to determine the destination choices of Iraqi refugees and explain the factors that dictated those choices. ix INTRODUCTION In March 2003, a military coalition led by the United States invaded the country of Iraq to remove its President Saddam Hussein from power and institute a new democratic regime. Three years later, instability and violence in Iraq incited an event of massive population displacement that has affected more than two million Iraqis who fled their country, along with tens of millions of citizens of the countries that have received them. The formative document of international refugee law is the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It defines a refugee as a person who “owing to well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” (United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees 1951). The United Nations has applied that definition to the millions of Iraqis who have fled their homes in recent years, giving them the legal status of refugee and all the rights endowed therein. While the situation in Iraq has led to both cross-border refugee flow and internal displacement, this study will focus on refugees, and