Iraq refugees settle in Brazil

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The United States has been criticized for not accepting more refugees from the war in Iraq that it started. But Brazil has agreed to provide a home for more than 100 Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq for Jordan.

The Palestinians will receive housing subsidies, Portuguese-language classes and other aid until they are able to support themselves. They are to be settled in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

Palestinians are often targeted in Iraq’s sectarian killing grounds. An additional 1,750 Palestinians in Iraq remain in ‘deplorable’ conditions along the border with Syria, the U.N. says.

The Palestinians benefit from a 2004 refugee plan adopted by 20 Latin American nations, which has been used mostly to help those displaced in the region, principally in Colombia.

Posted by Marcelo Soares in São Paulo and Patrick J. McDonnell in Lima