Issues

Statement on Iraq

Posted on Monday July 27, 2009

"Going Home? Prospects and Pitfalls for Large-Scale Return of Iraqis" - A Brookings Report on Iraqi Refugees

From Brookings Institute
Posted on Wednesday July 15, 2009

There is a lot of talk these days about the prospects for the large-scale return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to Iraq. More than four million Iraqis have been displaced, either internally as IDPs or externally as refugees. Most fled their communities since the US invasion in 2003 and especially in the aftermath of the sectarian violence that erupted after the bombing of the al-Askari mosque in Samarra in February 2006.

Iraqis/Chaldeans/Assyrians

Posted on Thursday April 9, 2009

Iraqi Chaldeans and Assyrians were among the earliest immigrants from the Arab world to come to the United States. Chaldeans and Assyrians are Aramaic-speaking Christian communities whose origins lie in Northern Iraq, Southeastern Turkey, and Northwestern Iran. Many of them believe they have a unique ethnic identity which is other than Arab. Most of the Iraqi Chaldeans originate from the village of Telkaif in northern, modern-day Iraq. Many of the Assyrians in the US were originally from Turkey but fled persecution there into Iran and Iraq around the time of World War I. In the early 20th Century, Chicago became the main destination for Assyrian immigrants while Chaldeans favored Detroit.

Population Estimates of Americans of Iraqi/Chaldean Ancestry

Posted on Thursday April 9, 2009

One way to estimate the number of persons living in America with roots in Iraq is through the ancestry question in the U.S. Census. While the census ancestry question identifies only a portion of the population with origins in the Arab world, it is a useful tool to track growth and location of population groups.