The Growing Iraqi Refugee Crisis

National Radio Project: The Growing Iraqi Refugee Crisis

Since 9/11, the U.S. Congress has appropriated $610 billion dollars in war-related money. With inflation figured in, that's roughly the same amount spent over the full 16 years of the Vietnam War. The Iraq War alone has cost the U.S. $450 billion dollars.

And what about the cost to the Iraqi people? In addition to civilian casualties, since 2003 hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been forced to flee their war-torn country to nearby neighboring countries - countries that either don't want them or can't take care of them.

On this edition, correspondent Dahr Jamail takes us to the streets of Damascus, Syria where we hear from the Iraqi refugees themselves and the organizations trying to assist them.

Featuring:

Eman Abdul Rahid, Iraqi woman whose arm was broken in a car bomb; Adhem Mardini, UNHCR public information officer, Damascus office; Abu Noor, teacher; Omar Jassim, laborer; Rathman Shakr, former detainee and torture survivor; Adnan, ex-Army officer; Dr. Omar Al-Khattab, young Iraqi doctor; Sarrah, student of dentistry; Hummam al-Mukhtar, 17 year old Iraqi student; Hussam, 22 year old Iraqi student; Adel Al-Jabbah, Amir Alaby and Abdel Aziz, Syrian shop owners.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Contributing Freelance Producer: Dahr Jamail
Mixing Engineer: Phillip Babich
Interns: Samson Reiny and Puck Lo

Download Here (Hit play button to listen).