I know this sounds weird, but Iraqi concerns that the country cannot handle the influx of returning refugees should be seen as a good thing.

Iraq's government acknowledged Tuesday that it cannot handle a massive return of refugees, as the U.N. announced a $11 million relief package to help the most vulnerable Iraqi families trickling back to their war-ravaged homeland.

The return of refugees is a politically charged issue in this country, where the embattled government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is eager to point to recent military gains against al-Qaida in Iraq and other militants as evidence that Iraq is now a relatively safe place.

But the U.S. military has warned that a massive return of refugees could rekindle sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites and that some returnees have found their Baghdad homes occupied by members of the other Muslim sect.

"In reality, the ministry cannot absorb a return on that (large) scale," Iraqi Migration Minister Abdul-Samad Rahman told a news conference. "If the influx is huge, then neither the ministry nor the entire government can handle it."

At the same time, he appeared to take issue with U.S. and U.N. assertions that security remains too fragile for Iraqis to come home in big numbers.

"I am not trying to defend the government or lure Iraqi families to come back, but we must tell the truth: the security situation is 90 percent stable," Rahman said. "The rate at which Iraqis are returning is not proportionate to the level of stability and security."

Think about it -- it has not been all that long since folks were trying desperately to get out of Iraq. Now they want to come back home. That speaks well to the security situation there, and to the success on the ground. But the reality is that people are coming back too fast, and so the Iraqi government needs some help -- on the road to recovery. It is a nice problem to have, don't you think?

Posted by: Greg at 11:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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