This Way Please

The Iraqi Refugee Crisis began in 2006 as a result of the instability and violence that prevailed in Iraq following the 2003 US-led invasion and occupation. Instead of being directed to camps, Iraqis flowed across international borders of Middle Eastern states nearby Iraq to live in urban centers and face varying levels of legal accommodation and deteriorating economic security. The policies of individual states in the Middle East, along with complex demographic factors, have influenced where Iraqis have gone. The role of the United States in affecting the destination choices of Iraqis is examined in this paper because of the powerful position of the US in the Middle East region and its role in creating the refugee crisis. The evidence reveals that the diplomatic relations between Middle East host countries and the United States, and the self-serving political interests of those states has created and maintained a regime in which Iraqi refugees are stuck primarily in host countries along Iraq's western border. The states involved in the Iraqi Refugee Crisis have applied political self-interest to their adherence to mechanisms of international law to which they are subject. A realist perspective of international relations is employed to explain the stability-seeking, risk-averse behavior of the states influencing the direction of migration. The purpose of this paper is to determine the destination choices of Iraqi refugees and explain the factors that dictated those choices.