Perspective: Confronting Iraq's Exodus

The war in Iraq has driven nearly 4 million people from their homes. As many as 2 million have fled the country, in what Refugees International calls the fastest-growing crisis in the world. As detailed in the stories that follow, the burden of coping with this exodus has fallen most heavily on Iraq's neighbors, such as Syria, Jordan and Iran, who have absorbed the vast majority of exiles. But the war's reverberations are being felt beyond the Middle East, in places as seemingly distant and incongruous as Sweden, which has taken in more than 11,000 Iraqis since 2005.

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