James Baker has never met Alia Al-Naradi, but they both have an interest in seeing the United States engage Syria on Iraq. For Baker, engagement is about stabilizing Iraq to allow the United States to exit gracefully. For Alia, it's about survival.
Alia is an Iraqi refugee who fled to Syria, a country that has absorbed more than 750,000 Iraqis since the beginning of the war. Syria's resources are now stretched thin, and without international help, it may not be able to accept vulnerable Iraqis much longer. Working with Syria through the United Nations to help Iraqi refugees could provide a humanitarian first step for greater engagement.
My organization, Refugees International, met Alia in Damascus shortly after she and her family fled to Syria in June. Shiite-dominated police had imprisoned her Sunni husband; roving militias fought in her ethnically mixed Baghdad neighborhood; gangs had been holding her nephew hostage for a week. Others waiting with her at the border crossing at Al Tanf said they fled after being kidnapped, tortured or raped, or having seen family members killed.
Syria is the last country in the Middle East to leave its borders open to Iraqi refugees. The United Nations estimates that 1.8 million Iraqis have sought refuge in the region, and Syria and Jordan host the largest concentration.
It can't maintain its open-door policy without international support. Refugees already strain social services. Yet, the international response to the Iraqi refugee crisis has been dismal. Despite numbers that rival the displacement in Darfur, there has been scant media attention and even less political concern. The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is doing little.
An increase in resources for UNHCR could make a huge difference. As winter approaches, the need is growing for portable heaters, warm clothing and help in paying electric bills and warm clothing. Mental health services for traumatized Iraqis are equally needed. And legal and financial help to maintain their visa status would prevent deportations back to a precarious life in Iraq.
Working through the United Nations or directly, the United States has an opportunity to engage with Damascus to mitigate the suffering of Iraqi refugees and the growing burden on Syria. This would advance both Alia's interests and Washington's.
Kenneth H. Bacon, president of Refugees International.