Washington: A half-million Iraqis fled their embattled country in 2007,the third consecutive year more Iraqis were displaced than any other nationality, a survey of the world s refugees reported today.

As before, most went to neighbouring Syria, and some fanned out into other neighbouring countries, the survey by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants said. It said the United States accepted few, just over half the 3,000 it had promised to resettle by the end of September.

The report said the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees had referred 10,000 Iraqis for US resettlement.

It said the Iraqi exodus "from the violence and instability of their homeland" constituted "the largest refugee crisis of 2007".

"While the Bush administration and the United Kingdom are busy trying to win the war, they have provided no leadership toward ensuring the rights and well-being of the victims of this war," the report said. "Europe, which for the most part warned of the dire humanitarian consequences of the war, has also done nothing to help the people they were so concerned about."

Sen Ben Cardin, a Democrat and a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said the survey "shows the United States still has far to go to support the rights of refugees worldwide".

"The United States has a moral obligation and a security interest in trying to alleviate the suffering of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons, particularly those who risked so much over the past few years to help our military and diplomatic efforts in their country," Cardin said yesterday.

Iraqis were not the only group for which the survey faulted US policies.

Source : PTI