Insecurity is not the only thing keeping hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people from going home. Economic hurdles also deter many, a senior UN official said on Monday.
"It is important to underline thaghtw III return is not only a question of security, I talked to many people, they talked about housing, jobs, and education," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said during a visit to Iraq.
"Security is an important condition, but it is not the only one ... The question of the living conditions is the most important one in guaranteeing a successful return," he told a news conference during his fifth visit to Iraq.
OPEC member Iraq, which sits on some of the world's largest oil reserves, has seen one of the worst humanitarian crises in the Middle East since Palestinians fled their homes after the creation of Israel in 1948, the UNHCR says. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the country during the sectarian slaughter unleashed after the 2003 US-led invasion and now live as refugees abroad, mainly in Syria and Jordan, while many more were driven out of their homes to other parts of Iraq.
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