BONUS!:

Iraqi Refugees Push Syria Toward Breaking Point (Yochi J. Dreazen, 6/11/07, Wall Street Journal: Washington Wire)

A new report paints a dire picture of the impact Iraq’s refugee crisis is having on neighbors like Syria.

iraqIraq’s civil war has set off the biggest Mideast refugee crisis since 1948, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fleeing the country every month for the relative safety of neighboring countries like Syria. Now, a new report finds evidence that Syria is beginning to break under the strain.

The new study by the Brookings Institution-University of Bern Project found that at least 1.2 million Iraqis have fled to Syria, though many Syrians believe the number is actually much higher. More than 80% of the Iraqis have clustered in the Damascus area, mostly living in mixed neighborhoods, the study found.

The flood of Iraqi refugees is exacting a steep economic toll, the report found. The cash-strapped Syrian government last year spent at least $54 million paying for food and tuition for the Iraqi refugees, according to the report. Ordinary Syrians are also feeling the pinch.

The lesson of the late Cold War: better to be the one pushing on the dominos than the ones trying to hold them up.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 11, 2007 4:34 PM