Gorilla’s Guides

In January, UNHCR appealed for US$261 million for its operations on behalf of some of the 4.7 million people uprooted by the conflict in Iraq. It has so far received US$134 million
By August, UNHCR will not be able to cover all basic health needs of Iraqis, and many seriously ill Iraqis will not […]

Posted on May 10th, 2008 under Children, Health, Human Rights, Iraq, Society And Economy, Women and Children. Tags: Child Poverty, Children, IDPs (Internal Refugees), Jordan, Lebanon, Poverty, Refugees, Syria, trauma, Turkey, UNHCR, WHO. Comments: None

In 2003, allegedly to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, the US and Coalition forces launched a war to bomb Saddam Hussein into oblivion, topple the Ba’athist regime and instate a new era of “liberty and peace.” By late April, down plonked Saddam’s statues (the man himself remained underground) and tanks rolled into Baghdad […]

Posted on April 28th, 2008 under Children, Features, Health, Human Rights, Iraq, Politics and Security, Religion, Society And Economy, War Crimes, Women and Children. Tags: American use of starvation as a weapon, American War Crimes, Baghdad, bomb, Children, Civilian casualties, Corruption, Health, Jordan, Malnourishment, Orphans, Poverty, Red Crescent/Red Cross, Refugees, Rescue Work, Sanctions, Syria, trauma, UNHCR, Water, Water Borne Disease, Water Contamination, Water Crisis (Iraq), WHO, Widows, World Health Organisation. Comments: None

“The majority of diseases I am seeing have moral and psychological causes. For over three years now we have had thousands of cases of sudden death; due often to thrombus or angina pectoris, among young and old people alike. We never saw anything like this until the Americans came.”

For more than two years now, […]

Posted on March 8th, 2008 under Children, Features, Health, Iraq. Tags: Baquba, Baqubah, Children, Diyala, drugs, Features, Health, IPS, IPS Reports, shock, Torture, trauma, UNHCR. Comments: 1

Vulnerable groups:
It is extremely difficult for the population to get health care provisions in an environment that is short on supplies and limited when it comes to facilities because of buildings that are too old. The problem is even more acute for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and injured persons. For a pregnant […]

Posted on February 27th, 2008 under Children, Health, Iraq. Tags: Al Kindi, Attacks on medical and humanitarian workers, Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Children, Haditha, Health, Imam Ali Hospital, Iraq, Red Crescent/Red Cross, Rescue Work, Sanctions, shock, trauma, Water, Water Crisis (Iraq), Women and Children, World Health Organisation. Comments: None

An Iraqi physician who now works in Amman with Doctors Without Borders and who asked that his name not be used because he feared for his safety said that of the 100 resident doctors in his 2004 graduating class, only five remained in Iraq after a year.
… … …
A surgeon in […]

Posted on February 10th, 2008 under Features, Health, Iraq. Tags: Doctors without borders, Health, Jordan, Médecins Sans Frontières, Red Crescent/Red Cross, trauma. Comments: None

Editor’s Note:

One in five of those registered with UNHCR since January 2007 – more than 19,000 individuals – are registered as “victims of torture and/or violence” in Iraq.
Seventy-seven percent of the Iraqi refugees who were interviewed reported being affected by air bombardments and shelling or rocket attacks. Eighty percent reported witnessing a shooting. […]

Posted on January 22nd, 2008 under Analysis Briefings Commentary, Children, Features, Health, Human Rights, Iraq, Middle East, Society And Economy, Women and Children. Tags: Children, Education Crisis (Iraq), Features, Follow Up, IRIN, Militias, Poverty, Rape, Refugees, shock, Syria, Torture, trauma, UNHCR, Women and Children. Comments: 2

The results of a trauma survey carried out among Iraqi refugees in Syria have been issued today. A total of 754 people were interviewed, who provided information about themselves and their families (a total of 3,553 people).
The survey – undertaken as part of a wider survey of Iraqis who registered with UNHCR’s office in […]

Posted on January 22nd, 2008 under Analysis Briefings Commentary, Health, Human Rights, Iraq, Middle East. Tags: Health, Human Rights, Militias, Rape, Refugees, shock, Syria, Torture, trauma, UNHCR. Comments: None

“He suffered torture, unbelievable torture — they gouged out one of his eyes, and he can’t walk properly,” she says. “He is very, very depressed. Every time I see him I don’t know if it’s the last, because he’s suicidal. But he’s also religious and feels that suicide will condemn him to hell, so for […]

Posted on January 19th, 2008 under Human Rights, Iraq, Middle East. Tags: Human Rights, Lebanon, Rape, Refugees, Syria, Torture, trauma, UNHCR. Comments: None