Fear, distrust slow Iraq refugees' return

BAGHDAD, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Lingering fear and distrust are hindering the return of more than 150,000 Baghdad families who have fled the city, Iraqi officials say.

The country's Ministry of Migration says 7,112 families had returned to the city by mid-July, fewer than the 8,350 families displaced from the western Baghdad neighborhood of Amiriya alone, The New York Times reported Sunday. Iraqi refugees say that while they feel safe with their immediate neighbors, they reportedly still fear other residents and new guards on their blocks.

One Sunni sheik told the newspaper that Shiite refugees are returning to his area of Baghdad and bristles at the suggestion sectarian prejudice is still a factor. He admitted, however, that not all of the hundreds of men under him necessarily share his thoughts or even obey his orders. Other Iraqis interviewed said the problems faced by returnees has more to do with economics than sectarian squabbles.

Displaced Sunnis are still deeply insecure about returning, even though Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki rose in their estimation when he battled Shiite militias, the newspaper said. Some told The Times they feel a bit safer thanks to the city's new concrete wall separators designed to tamp down sectarian conflicts.