Google Earth teams with the U.N.

According to the Washington Post the United Nations is teaming with Google Earth to create an interactive map to illustrate the plight of certain populations:

Click on the United Nations' "visit a camp" button in Google Earth, for example, and an online depiction of the globe spins and zeroes in on a satellite view of a refugee camp in Chad. There, visitors learn about the refugees who have fled to that country from western Sudan's Darfur region. Click on a button and users can find out how much money it costs to install, say, a new water source at the camp. Click again and users can donate that amount.

"The great thing about Google Earth is it gives you that ability to be there," said Tim Irwin, a spokesman for the U.N. refugee organization. "We're hoping to take something that might be a little abstract for some people and make it very real."

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Jolie Highlights the Plight of Iraqi Refugee Children

Voice of America reports that actress Angelina Jolie is speaking out about Iraqi refugee children:

Jolie again used her star power to speak out for children in war zones, on the day the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus testified before congressional committees.

Jolie has spent time with Iraqi refugee families and is concerned with the lack of assistance that is being offered for these families:

"I would think even [General David] Petraeus would agree that a surge does not just mean it works if you get numbers of violence down," she said. "It works if humanitarian aid is tarting to increase and changes are able to be made."

Half of the four million Iraqis forced out of their homes are internally displaced. Tens of thousands have fled to Syria and Jordan, and much smaller numbers of Iraqi refugees are in Egypt and Lebanon.

In addition to the trauma of being a refugee Jolie pointed out the fact that many of these refugees have also survived torture:

Jolie said the vast majority of Iraqi children have been traumatized by the horrors of war and now have special needs.

"These children are also traumatized," she said. "One in every five Iraqi registered in Syria is registered as a victim of torture or extreme violence. There was also a study done, that not surprisingly, 92 percent of the children in Iraq had learning impediments, due to a climate of fear."

Jolie said there are no easy solutions to improve access to education in Iraq, but efforts should focus on improving education infrastructure for refugees in host countries, providing books and supplies, recruiting teachers and integrating school dropouts, especially girls.

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5 Years Later

The Wall Street Journal reports on the current state of Iraq. Their finding is that 5 years after the U.S. led invasion, Iraq is a place full of internally displaced peoples and surrounding countries struggle to carry the burden of the millions of Iraqi refugees:

But far more common still is Ms. Abood's journey from middle-class prosperity to transient poverty, reflecting the life-shattering disappointment that many Iraqis now see as the legacy of the war. An estimated four million Iraqis -- over 14% of the country's population -- have been displaced inside Iraq or to neighboring countries, largely due to the chaotic aftermath of the American-led invasion that began on March 19, 2003.

Read the article here.

At Survivors of Torture, International we have been tracking the refugee crisis knowing that evidently some of these folks will make their way to our door. In January the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees released a study in which 754 Iraqi refugees living in Syria were interviewed. Every single person reported witnessing a traumatic event.

Also one out of five of Iraqi refugees registered with the UNHCR (which is more than 19,000 people) have reported being victims of torture and or violence.

No matter what side of the aisle you are on, or what political opinion you subscribe to, it is safe to say we all agree that the war in Iraq has been a hard and devastating time. In light of this fact we are prepared to welcome these survivors of torture and are anxiously anticipating beginning their journey toward healing.