EU:The EU has decided not to invoke a mechanism which would give Iraqi refugees the right to remain in the 27 EU states.
The EU has ruled out using the temporary emergency instrument for fear that it would encourage more Iraqi asylum-seekers to come to Europe.
The decision was taken ahead of an EU justice ministers' meeting today, which will discuss ways of coping with an emerging crisis. More than four million Iraqis have been displaced. Two million people are living in Jordan and Syria while a further two million have taken sanctuary in safer areas within Iraq.
Amnesty International and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles yesterday urged EU ministers to take action. They have asked EU states to: stop deporting failed asylum-seekers back to Iraq; grant legal status to Iraqi asylum-seekers; and set up a resettlement programme to help Jordan and Syria.
Nawal Abdul Karim, of the Iraqi Women's League, who recently travelled to Syria, said: "The treatment of refugees is very bad. Some have suffered abuse from the police . . . many face being deported back to Iraq."
In Europe, many states continue to reject asylum claims from Iraqis while some states, such as Sweden, accept 80 per cent of claims. This prompted 9,000 Iraqis to seek refuge in Sweden in 2006, which has asked its European partners to help it cope.