Baghdad, Iraq - Among the many effects of the political turmoil and war in Iraq is a “brain drain”caused in great part by forced migration of members of the Sunni Islamic sect.
NPR correspondent Deborah Amos is the author of a new book on the topic, “Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile and Upheaval in the Middle East.”
“Baghdad has become a predominantly Shiite town,” says Amos, “and if you look at who now are in the power positions now it is men from the Shiite communities.” She adds that the Sunnis, who were the lawyers, the architects and teachers, felt left out.
The author says many of them left because they were threatened during the worst of the violent years in Iraq. Many of the Sunnis now live across the borders in Amman, Jordan and Damascus, Syria. In addition to the loss for the Iraqi government, the resettlement of Sunni refugees has tended to destabilize the governments of surrounding countries.
Deborah Amos has followed this month’s Iraqi election from here in the U.S. She observes that the report of a 62 percent voter turnout is not necessarily as impressive as it may seem from an American point of view.
The author says that, in 2005, the Sunnis did not participate in the elections due to threats from Al Qaida. She says it looks like they have changed their minds somewhat, perhaps putting some faith in the March 7 election.
In the Sunni provinces, voting numbers were, according to Amos, “astronomical,” as high as 75 percent. In Baghdad the voter turnout was at 59 percent, a number affected by the fact that the area was riddled with bombs that intimidated many potential voters. In the southern, predominantly Shiite parts of the country, voting percentages were quite lower.
Amos says, “These people voted in the 70 and 80 percent numbers in 2005,” speculating that perhaps they may have become cynical about the benefits of democracy.
A native of Iraq now living in West Virginia agrees with the assessment that his nation has lost many good people during the past decade. Yassin Ismaeel is a graduate student and Fulbright scholar at West Virginia University. He says both forced emigration and the killing of scholars have harmed Baghdad University and the nation of Iraq.
Ismaeel believes that Iraq needs completely new leadership to unite the sects and achieve democracy and equal rights. He comments, “We need new faces that have not been in power. Never, for the last hundred years.”