Number of people displaced within Iraq? It's a staggering 1.8 miillion. Number of Iraqis who have fled to other countries? Two million and counting. Number of Iraqis who have been granted refugee status in the United States since 2003? A grand total of 466.

Those figures are from the International Herald Tribune. Such indifference to refugees is unforgivable as America has "an obligation to the Iraqis whose lives it has upended", it says. The paper notes the United States is planning to spend $20 million on helping Iraqi refugees in 2007. Compare that to eight billion dollars a month spent on waging the war, and you get the picture.

Writing in USA Today, Adam Goodheart of Washington College in Chestertown and political writer John R. Bohrer point out another "laughable" figure when it comes to U.S. help for Iraqi refugees: $500,000 that will go to the U.N. refugee settlement efforts. Doesn't sound too bad until you divide the figure by the millions who have left Iraq and get a figure of a few cents of aid per refugee.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey acknowledges it is difficult for Iraqis to pass U.S. immigration checks since the administratin tightened its system after the attacks on September 11, 2001, according to the Chicago Tribune . But the paper says Iraqis are not even allowed to apply for asylum at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

Britain hasn't acted much better than the United States, says Britain's Sunday Times. Citing refugee offiicials , it says only five out of 1,800 Iraqis who have applied for asylum and refugees status in 2005 were successful. Back in September last year, 27 Iraqis were sent back and there are plans to deport more in the coming weeks. Immigration officials don't seem to be listening to warnings about the persecution and violence they could face back home.

The U.S. media is paying particular attention to the fate of Iraqis who have put themselves in danger by working as interpreters, guides and contractors for the United States. Several newspapers say the country is indebted to these people, but they haven't received proper attention from the U.S. authorities. For instance, the current visa programme for Iraqi and Afghan translators is limited to 50 people a year, the International Herald Tribune says. That's if you manage to jump the six-year waiting list.

The Chicago Tribune acknowledges the United States has to "exercise some care in this area", since it still needs Iraqi interpreters in Iraq. Nonetheless, it still urges the government to meet its obligations towards Iraqis who are fleeing the country and need help.

One victim of the restrictive policy towards Iraqi refugees is the former translator for murdered American freelance journalist Steven Vincent, who can't get a visa to enter the country.

"I have been told she does not qualify for refugee or asylum status because Iraq is now a democracy, hence there should be no reason she would need to flee," the late journalist's wife, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times.

Letting all Iraqis seeking refuge in the United States or Britain would be like admitting that the Iraq venture is a losing cause and would be an admission of failure, says Kasaram Mufarah, executive co-ordinator of a group of 300 non-governmental aid agencies dealing with Iraq's humanitarian crisis, quoted in Britain's Sunday Times.

The LA Times reminds us of President Bush's attitude to all this. It quotes the president saying on CBS television programme "60 minutes": Iraqis "owe the American people a huge debt of gratitude".

Many would find this statement incredulous, considering all the killings, murders, kidnappings, bomb explosions and other signs of the desperate and worsening situation in Iraq. But, as the paper points out, surely "(one) way to encourage gratitude is to show a little of your own - starting with the people who risked their lives to help U.S. and other forces try to succeed (in Iraq)."

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