Not long ago, when refugees were streaming out of Iraq, fleeing that country’s war, it was unthinkable that the country would become a sanctuary for others. Its own conflict is ongoing, to be sure, but for many Syrians, Iraq is indeed the safer place.
At the Domiz camp in northern Iraq, for instance, it seemed for months as if more people were arriving and more tents were going up every day. The United Nations estimates that there are now at least 58,000 Syrians there, but unofficial counts put the number well above 60,000. And none of them can answer the most pressing question they have: “When can we go home?”