cross-migrations
of Muslims from India to p
aki
-
stan
and Sikhs and Hindus from Pakistan to India.
It is estimated that more than 10 million people
were involved in this bi-directional exodus of
civilians fleeing outbreaks of violence. The 1947
partition also led to the creation of Kashmiri refu-
gee populations composed mainly of Muslims and
Hindus, and of Bihari Muslims who moved to West
Pakistan (now b
angladesh
) to escape communal
violence. Later, in 1971, the war for the libera-
tion of Bangladesh from West Pakistan involved
widespread violence against civilians and to the
creation of refugee camps for Biharis, who opposed
independence from West Pakistan.
One of the longest lasting unsettled refugee
crises in the world is that of the Palestinians.
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the New East (UNRWA),
914,000 Palestinians lost their homes between
June 1946 and May 1948, as a result of the Arab-
Israeli conflict. These people and their descen-
dants, numbering by 2002 over 4 million, are
officially considered refugees by UNRWA. How-
ever, only a fraction of them, approximately 1.3
million Palestinians, currently live in UNRWA-
administered refugee camps in Gaza, the West
Bank, J
ordan
, Lebanon, and Syria. Existing in
crushing poverty, Palestinian refugees in these
camps face serious health problems and limited
options for
edUcation
and employment. In addi-
tion, those living in Gaza and the West Bank
come under nearly constant physical threat from
the ongoing violence between Israeli soldiers and
Palestinian resistance fighters, and they often face
further displacement with the continued estab-
lishment of Israeli settlements in the occupied
territories. Unlike all other refugees in the world,
Palestinian refugees are not protected by the
UN’s Refugee Convention (1951) because some
of them receive direct assistance from UNRWA.
Thus, the millions who are not living under the
direct influence of UNRWA receive no protection,
while those under the watch of UNRWA receive
merely basic assistance.
Afghan nationals comprise another population
that has suffered massive population displace-
ment, both internal and external. Prior to the U.S.
invasion of a
Fghanistan
in late 2001 following
the September 11, 2001, attacks, over 5 million
Afghans had become refugees as a result of more
than 25 years of civil war and foreign invasion.
Four million of those refugees sought sanctuary
in neighboring countries, such as i
ran
and Paki-
stan, while another million
lived displaced within
Afghanistan itself, making Afghans the largest
refugee population it the world today. In 2001 all
six of Afghanistan’s neighbors have closed their
borders to further refugees. At the same time,
hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been
encouraged to return to their homes. Unfortu-
nately the instability that remains in Afghanistan
makes a viable resettlement nearly impossible in
most regions of the country.
Perhaps the fastest growing refugee popula-
tion today consists of Iraqis, Muslims and non-
Muslims, as a consequence of the U.S. occupation
of the country in 2003 and the civil war that
erupted there in 2006. It is estimated that as of
September 2007 nearly 2.3 million had fled their
homes for safer parts of i
raq
(United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR).
These are called “internally displaced persons.”
Another 2.5 million have fled to other countries
in the region, especially J
ordan
, Syria, Iran, t
Ur
-
key
, Lebanon, and Egypt (UNHCR 2007). The
assets these refugees were able to take with them
have quickly dwindled, posing serious social,
political, and economic challenges for the host
countries. About 100,000 Iraqis have moved
to countries in Europe, the United States, and
Canada (UNHCR 2007). Prior to the U.S.-led
invasion of 2003, over 2 million Kurds had been
displaced from their homes in Iraq and Turkey,
and over 100,000 Marsh Arabs were displaced
from their traditional homelands in southern
Iraq by the government forces of s
addam
h
Usayn
(d. 2006). One of the staggering human costs of
war in the Middle East, its dramatic refugee cri-
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