Iraqi diaspora in Encyclopedia

The Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as emigrants or refugees, and is now one of the largest in modern times, being described by the UN as a "humanitarian crisis" largely due to the US invasion and occupation of Iraq.

History

The Iraqi diaspora is not a sudden exodus but one that has grown exponentially through the 20th century as each generation faced some form of radical transition or political conflict. There were at least two large waves of expatriation. A great number of Iraqis left the country during the government of Saddam Hussein, and large numbers have left during the Second Gulf War and its aftermath.

Various ethnic and religious populations have also been displaced or relocated. The Assyrian people have dealt with a century long dispersion of its people. Another ethnic group are the Mandeans, who numbered around 40,000 before the current war. Now, the last practising Gnostic sect in the Middle East has almost entirely left Iraq.

During the first Gulf War, Iran provided refuge for 1.4 million Iraqi's, though many did not settle their permanently. Facing international pressure, the United States agreed to allow Iraqi's in the Rafha refugee camp in Saudi Arabia to restle in America. Through 2002, over 32,000 Iraqi refugees had been resettled in the United States; they joined a population of non-refugee Iraqis in America, bringing the total to about 90,000 Iraqis in the US, most notably in Detroit, Chicago and San Diego.

The history of emigration and of the diaspora community then drastically changed with the invasion of Iraq in 2003. There are many sources claiming different amounts of displaced Iraqis. Some claim as low as 1.2 million people have left Iraq, while others claim this number to be around 4-5 million.^[1] It is difficult to gauge an accurate number of how many Iraqis seek refuge in other nations because of the constant outflow of Iraqis.

According to "UN statistics on displaced Iraqis around the world" of September 2007, Syria and Jordan are absorbing 44 per cent of displaced Iraqis globally. Other countries have also received Iraqis. Egypt, which has pledged to end Iraqi immigration, already has 150,000 ethnic Iraqi people. The United Kingdom, whose Iraqi population comes largely if not entirely from before the 2003 Iraq war, has a population numbering between 250,000 and half a million. Iran also has approximately 204,000 Iraqi expatriates. And, in Lebanon, notably due to West of Syria has 100,000 refugees. Sweden has allowed 18,000 refugees to enter, by far the most of any European country, but has indicated that it too plans on tightening restrictions.

Current number of Iraqis in all countries

Rank	Capital	Centres of Iraqi population	? of Iraqis	Further info
1	Baghdad	Entire Country	31,234,000^[2]
2	Damascus	Damascus, Aleppo	2,000,000 ^[3]	Iraqis in Syria
3	Amman	Amman	1,000,000	Iraqis in Jordan
4	London	London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Derby, Cardiff and Glasgow.	450,000 ^[4]^[5]	Iraqis in the United Kingdom
5	Brasilia	estimates range from 70,000 to 342,000	Iraqis in Brazil
6	Jerusalem	Jerusalem, Ramat Gan	250,000 ^[6]	Iraqis in Israel, (Iraqi Jews)
7	Tehran	Tehran, Qom, Ahwaz, Elam, Shiraz, Mashad	203,000^[7]	Iraqis in Iran
8	Cairo	Cairo, Alexandria	150,000^[8]^[9]	Iraqis in Egypt
9	Berlin	Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg	150,000^[10]	Iraqis in Germany
10	Beirut	Beirut, Roumieh, Baalbeck, Beqaa, Nabatiyeh, Baabda, Aley, Matn, Tyre, Sidon, Hermel, Zahle, Bint Jbeil, Chouf, Jbeil, Tripoli, Koura^[11]	100,000^[12]	Iraqis in Lebanon
11	Abu Dhabi	100,000^[13]	Iraqis in the United Arab Emirates
11	Sanaa	100,000 ^[14]	Iraqis in Yemen
12	Ankara	Ankara, Istanbul	60,000-90,000	Iraqis in Turkey
13	Canberra	Sydney, Melbourne, Victoria (Australia)	80,000^[15]	Iraqis in Australia
14	Stockholm	Stockholm (S�dert�lje), Malm�^[16]	70,000+ ^[17]	Iraqis in Sweden
15	Bogota	Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Pereira	40,000-70,000+	Iraqis in Colombia
18	Athens	5,000-40,000^[18]	Iraqis in Greece
19	Washington DC	37,714 (0.01%)	Iraqi American
20	Ottawa	36,000^[19]	Iraqis in Canada
21	Riyadh	33,000^[20]	Iraqis in Saudi Arabia
22	Tripoli	30,000^[21]	Iraqis in Libya
23	Oslo	Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, B�rum, Trondheim, Drammen, Kristiansand, Fredrikstad, Asker ^[22]	26, 000 (2008 est.)	Iraqis in Norway
24	San Juan	25,000	Iraqis in Puerto Rico
25	Algiers	20,000^[23]	Iraqis in Algeria
26	Kuwait City	13,000^[24]	Iraqis in Kuwait
27	Copenhagen	12,000^[25] to 15,000	Iraqis in Denmark

Locations

The following countries have hosted Iraqi refugees. This list is by no means conclusive.

Africa

Algeria

The current population of Iraqis living in Algeria is estimated at around 30,000.^[23]

Egypt

Since the Iraq war in 2003, Egypt has allowed a number of Iraqi refugees in the country. The current Iraqi population in Egypt stands at around 150,000.^[8]

However, it is reported that Egypt is closing its doors to Iraqis. The precise reasons are unknown but according to ReliefWeb, one reason, apart from the fact that refugees are a strain on an already fragile economy, Egypt does not want Iraq to become a Shia state, as most refugees to the country are believed to be Sunni.^[26]^[27]

Since January 2007, more stringent laws have been applied restricting the entry of new refugees. Egypt fears that the arrival of more refugees may increase prices in real estate, potentially causing resentment towards Iraqis by Egyptians. Another reason is that Egypt fears the arrival of Iraqis belonging to different sects, possibly causing sectarian strife. The vast majority of refugees fleeing to Egypt are Sunni Muslims, therefore changing the demographics of certain regions within Iraq. Demands of building Shia mosques and shrines in Egypt by Iraqis have been rejected by the authorities.^[28]

Libya

Americas

United States

Main Article: Iraqi American, about 200,000 Iraqis or Americans of Iraqi descent. According to the Arab American Institute, the Iraqi population in the USA is 350,000+ and the hub of Iraqi Americans is in Chicago.

Canada

Puerto Rico

25,000 Iraqis, either permanent residents or refugees await entry to the United States, live in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Brazil

Chile

There are around 56,000 Iraqis in Chile. Iraqis now rank second place to Palestinians among the top five Arab Chilean nationalities.

Argentina

Approximately 120,000 Iraqis live in Argentina, including around 72,000 refugees.

Europe

Austria

Bulgaria

Finland

A recent influx of Iraqi refugees arrived in Finland, numbering at around 1,600.^[31]

France

The current population of Iraqis in France is estimated at around 8,200. However, it has been reported that since the invasion of Iraq, France has only accepted 13 refugees.^[32]^[33]

Germany

The number of Iraqis in Germany is estimated at around 150,000 ^[10] In 2006, out of 2,727 asylum applications for Iraqi refugees, only 8.3 percent were accepted.^[35] Some sources claim there to be just around 40,000 Iraqi refugees residing in Germany.^[36] In 2006, Germany granted just 8.3 percent of Iraqi asylum demands, according to the ministry.^[37]

Greece

Over 80,000 Iraqi refugees are believed to came into Greece since 2003. The Greek government wants to resettle most of the refugees, though some refugees are using Greece as a path of entry to other European countries. Greece has long attracted Iraqis and other Arabic-speaking peoples from the Middle East for centuries during Ottoman Turkish times (the late 16th to early 20th) and in the 2000's, many Iraqi and Syrian workers are thought to arrived from Cyprus to find jobs in Greece.

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

The current population of Iraqis in Italy stands at around 17,300; however one source claims there to be 56,300, which is approximately 50 families.^[40] Most of these are priests, nuns and seminarians who have come to pursue their studies in Italy.^[41] The majority are residents of Rome.

There have been recent appeals from the Iraqi community living in Italy to free any Italian and Iraqi Italian residents currently working in Iraq.^[42]

In November 2007, 1,800 Iraqi Kurds sought refugee in Italy, of which only 20 of them applied for asylum and the other received 15 day expulsion orders.^[43]

Romania

Russia

Significant groups of Iraqis have emigrated to Russia as early as the 1990s.^[45] Iran credits Russia with being one of the first countries to provide concrete assistance in processing Iraqi refugees; Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry began preparing two sites for refugee camps in western Iran in April 2003.^[46] However, Iraqis admitted to Russia often find themselves the targets of racism; as with Afghan refugees, they are mistaken for migrants from the Caucasus, who are stereotyped in Russia as drug dealers and criminals.^[45] The number of Iraqi refugees in Russia is unknown, but may exceed 50,000 in the year 2009. Iraqi Christians like Assyrians and Chaldeans migrated to Russia in the early 20th century.

Spain

The current population of Iraqis in Spain are unknown; however, since the Iraq war, Spain has been host to 45 Iraqi refugees. An additional 42 Iraqis requested asylum in 2006.^[47] There are roughly about 13,700 asylum seekers in Spain, and a further 642 Iraqis hold residency permits.^[48]

Iraqi immigration to Spain accounted for 1,706 permanent residents in the year 2006.

Switzerland

The current population of Iraqis in Switzerland is estimated to be around 5,000. However, the Swiss government is currently closing doors to future Iraqi refugees, and offering to send external aid instead. Christoph Blocher, the Swiss Justice and Police Minister, stated that "We already have 5,000 Iraqis in Switzerland and our country is in second place in Europe in accepting them".^[49]^[50]

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has the largest Iraqi community in the Western World with estimates ranging from 250,000 to 450,000.

Asia

Armenia

Georgia

The Republic of Georgia has over 10,000 Iraqi refugees at this time, and a long history of Assyrians resided in the Caucasus region, including the republics of Abkhazia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and South Ossetia.

Kuwait

The current Iraqi population in Kuwait is difficult to determine, as there are no official figures, but estimates range from 10,000 to 13,000.^[51] According to the UNHCR, only 427 Iraqis have been registered as asylum seekers and 18 Iraqis have been recognized as refugees in Kuwait.^[51]

Due to poor Iraqi-Kuwaiti relations, Kuwait had previously announced that it will not provide shelter for any Iraqi refugees and will prevent them from entering the country by guarding the border with Saudi Arabian troops. However, Kuwait did announce that they will hold any refugees in a 15 kilometer-wide demilitarized strip on the Iraqi side of the border, where it would provide humanitarian assistance.^[51]

Kuwait has maintained strict regulations when considering refugees; however, the country hosted 15,000 Iraqis throughout the 1990s, most of which have resided in Kuwait. Currently, the country shelters some 13,000 Iraqis according to the UNHCR.^[24]

Pakistan

The current Iraqi population in Pakistan is estimated at around 150, but exact figures are difficult to ascertain, as many have slipped away into the country's large urban centres unregistered. It is believed that many Iraqi's chose Pakistan as a conduit nation in their quest to enter Europe and America. It is believed that triple the current estimates of Iraqi's living in Pakistan have passed through the nation though exact figures are difficult to attain.^[52] There are also a sizeable number of people in Pakistan who have historical Iraqi origin, having migrated and settled in the country in the past few centuries. They are known as the Iraqi biradri.

United Arab Emirates

The current population of Iraqis in the United Arab Emirates is estimated to be around 100,000.^[13]

Yemen

Since the war in 2003, despite not sharing a border with Iraq, Yemen has become a host country for many Iraqi refugees. However, in 2004, the Yemeni government has changed its policy and currently requires Iraqi nationals to hold visas before letting them into Yemen; this has restricted their entry into the country. It is difficult to estimate how many Iraqis are in Yemen, as the numbers vary frequently, with many arriving and leaving quickly. In 2004, the UNHCR estimated that 100,000 Iraqis were living in Yemen.^[14]

Israel

In 1951, about 120,000 Iraqi Jews fled to Israel. A number of Jews of Iraqi descent keep their unique traditions, cuisine, culture. The number of Iraqi Jews in Israel, is nearly 600,000.

Iraqi diaspora

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