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Syria and Jordan: The Iraqi Exodus

Photo courtesy The Baltimore SunAn exodus of more than 2 million Iraqis is reshaping the Middle East -- with ominous implications for the region.

Driven out of Iraq and into neighboring countries by sectarian violence, a once prosperous middle class is drawing down savings -- and fueling local resentments. The newcomers are blamed for burdening public services, crowding schools and driving up housing costs, even as they struggle for survival.

Iraqi Professionals are reduced to accepting handouts. Children are going unschooled. Girls are turning to prostitution.

Iraq, meanwhile, is missing a population vital to its peaceful reconstruction.

Matthew Hay Brown travels to Syria and Jordan, the countries that have taken in the greatest number of Iraqis, to record the voices of a new diaspora -- and to explore what their dispersal means for the future of Iraq, and of the Middle East.

Matthew is the Pulitzer Center World Affairs Journalism Fellow at the International Center for Journalists. Learn more about ICFJ fellows.


The Baltimore Sun series: 

December 28, 2008

December 29, 2008

December 30, 2008

Related projects:

Iraq: Death of a Nation? (revisited)

The Promise of Freedom



Matthew Hay Brown

Matthew Hay Brown is a Washington Correspondent for The Baltimore Sun. He has reported in English and Spanish from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East . He has written for The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Christian Science Monitor, among others ... click on name above for full bio.