IRAP’s Director, Becca Heller, was interviewed yesterday about the ongoing crisis in Iraq during a segment of Huff Post Live! Along with several other participants from various organizations with expertise in the Middle East, insurgency, and refugee issues, Becca discussed the effects this conflict has had on civilians as well as its projected time frame.
A humanitarian crisis continues to unfold as the Sectarian violence continues. Shiite clerics have called on adherents to take up arms against the militants, as have government officials, while Sunni leaders are calling on their people to rise up against the government. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, and countless others have been killed in the fighting.
IRAP is especially concerned for those in the Special Immigrant Visa pipeline. By definition, those people have connections to the United States, and were already at risk of persecution by extremists. This situation, getting worse every day, makes their situation all the more dangerous.