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Familiar Problems and New Challenges

Hani Mowafi, MD, MPH; Paul Spiegel, MD, MPH

JAMA. 2008;299(14):1713-1715.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A major refugee crisis is taking place in the Middle East. More than 4.2 million Iraqis (1 in 7) have been displaced from their homes.¹ More than 2 million refugees are in neighboring countries, including 1.2 million in Syria¹ (population 19.3 million²) and 800 000 in Jordan¹ (population 6 million²). The crisis represents the largest displacement in the region's history since the Palestinian crisis and one of the largest caseloads ever dealt with by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The majority of these refugees represent ethnic and religious minorities, including formerly dominant Sunni tribes.³ They are primarily scattered among poor urban areas of capitals like Damascus, Amman, Lebanon, and Cairo.⁴ Numerous reports highlight the appalling living conditions of displaced Iraqis—including reports of young girls resorting to sex work to survive and children forced into labor or other forms . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Emergency Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, and Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Dr Mowafi); and Public Health and HIV Section, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, Switzerland (Dr Spiegel).