IRAQ AND BROWN'S 'SHARED VALUES'
Gordon Brown told George Bush this week that Britain has a "shared destiny" with
the United States" founded on "shared values". Even as Brown spoke, the
consequences of those "shared values" in Iraq were spelt out in horrific detail
by a report from Oxfam and over 100 other NGOs.
* 43% of Iraqis are in absolute poverty;
* 28% of Iraqi children are malnourished;
* 32% of internally displaced persons who need food rations can't get them;
* 70% of Iraqis don't have adequate water supplies;
* 80% don't have effective sanitation;
* 4 million Iraqis are in dire need of humanitarian assistance
* 11% of new born babies are underweight.

Some 50,000 Palestinian, Syrian, and Iranian refugees living in Iraq have been targeted by sectarian groups in deliberate attacks. In particular, the security of around 34,000 Palestinians has deteriorated drastically, forcing many thousands to move elsewhere inside the country or to flee to Jordan or Syria, often being stranded for long periods in 'no man's land' while potential host governments decide whether or when to let them enter. An estimated 1,400 Palestinians are living in desperate conditions in refugee camps along the Iraq--Syria border, unable to cross the frontier into a country that is already straining to cope with hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees.
Source: UNHCR42

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