Displaced People
Are the Silent Victims of War in Iraq  RIVER
FOREST, IL February 26, 2007--Ordinary citizens and political leaders
around the world are beginning to recognize the newly emerging reality
of the silent victims of war in Iraq. Thousands of Iraqi citizens
have been forced to leave their homeland since the US led invasion
in 2003.An estimated 100,000 Iraqis leave their country each month, including many of Iraq's best-educated professionals. Approximately two million Iraqis have fled since 2003. The neighboring countries are feeling the burden of Iraqi refugees; estimates are that Syria has taken in 800,000 Iraqis, Jordan 700,000, Egypt 100,000, Iran, 54,000, Lebanon, 20,000. Tens of thousands of Iraqis are internally displaced. US State Immigration Policy approves 500 Iraqi refugees yearly, only 466 have been admitted since 2003. The Iraq Coordinating Committee encourages Dominicans in the US and Canada to recognize this humanitarian crisis. Three Actions you can take now: 1. Participate in the Refugee Action Alert: We encourage you to send a postcard to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ellen Sauerbrey, Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration, as well as your senators and representatives asking that we open our doors to Iraqi Refugees. (see address on right)
2. Hold a Remembrance Vigil on March 19th, the 5th year of the War in Iraq. We invite you to hold a prayer vigil on March 19th to mark the beginning of the first year of war. During your Vigil to please take time to write a note, or sign a large card or several cards to the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine, The Dominican Sisters of the Presentation and to the Dominican friars. We need three copies of the letters as you prepare them so that all three groups can receive them. We learned that a personal note or signature is reassuring to them; they will know that we have not forgotten them and that they can actually touch us through our signatures and messages. (IMPORTANT: Pleae don't seal your notes!) We encourage you to invite your local communities as well as Motherhouses. Provincial Houses, Scholastic centers, Novitiates, etc. to write cards or to sign a larger card that says something like, "We are thinking of you, we are remembering you, praying for you and with you for an end to violence and war." 3. During the prayer vigil, prepare a letter of support to our Dominican Family in Iraq Please write a note of support, either as part of the prayer or beforehand, which ever works best for your needs. Your letters will be forwarded to our Dominican Family in Iraq. Please mail your letters to: Eileen Gannon, OP, Dominican Leadership Conference 211 E. 43 Suite 910 New York, NY 10017. As letters are received, we will see that they are delivered. |
The Iraq
Coordinating Committee invites you to take part in the following two actions as we commemorate
the 5th year of the War in Iraq. Letter campaign on behalf of Iraqi Refugees and a Prayer Vigil on March 19th, 2007, which includes preparing a letter to our Dominican Family in Iraq. Send Postcards to: Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 Ellen Sauerbrey Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration State Department 2201 C Street NW Washington, DC 20520 On another note: UN official lauds US decision to shelter 7,000 Iraqi refugees Read more |
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