By NNN-KUNA
Geneva : The UN refugee agency has appealed for USD 261 million this year for its operations covering the needs of some four million Iraqis.
According to UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond Tuesday, the UNHCR’s Iraq Situation Supplementary Appeal covers programmes for many of the 2.2 million Iraqis displaced within Iraq, as well as the two million who have fled to other countries in the region, including Syria, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and several of the Gulf States.
He also told reporters that his agency also cares for some 41,000 non-Iraqi refugees in Iraq, including Palestinians, Iranians, Turks and others.
Redmond said that the UNHCR has registered more than 220,000 Iraqis in neighbouring states, given health assistance for some 210,000 cases, and provided educational support in Syria, Jordan and other countries that has enabled 100,000 refugee children to attend school.
Under the 2008 appeal, he added, the UNHCR has set a target of getting another 100,000 Iraqi refugee children into school, bringing the total to 200,000 by the end of the year. The agency will also continue direct assistance to vulnerable families, including a programme that provides cash cards for limited monthly withdrawals by female-headed households, widows and people with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
“Resettlement of the most vulnerable Iraqis is also covered by the new appeal. Last year, more than 21,000 Iraqi resettlement cases were submitted to 16 governments for consideration,” he said.
Redmond noted that by early December, more than 4,500 of them had actually been resettled. UNHCR expects to submit at least another 20,000 referrals to resettlement countries in 2008.