U.N. says to help Iraqis choosing to return home

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday it was not ready to recommend Iraqis return home despite its plan to help repatriate 15,000 refugee families.

In a 2008 appeal to governments, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is seeking $261 million (132 million pounds) to provide health care, education, and cash to Iraqis uprooted by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and subsequent sectarian violence.

The appeal includes funds to assist up to 15,000 families who may choose to return home from Syria, Jordan and other countries that host 2 million Iraqis.

Many of those who fled Iraq have congregated in cities such as Damascus and Amman where they are running out of money and finding it increasingly difficult to get by, the UNHCR said.

"This refugee situation represents the largest urban population which UNHCR has ever been called upon to respond to and poses an unprecedented load on the economies and social infrastructures of host countries," it said in its appeal.

UNHCR said it was "seeking to ensure the continued safe stay of Iraqis in their respective asylum countries until voluntary repatriation becomes a viable option".

Iraqi authorities have estimated at least 30,000 families returned to Iraq in late 2007, though the Iraqi Red Crescent said last week the numbers were much lower.

Spokesman Ron Redmond said the Geneva-based agency was neither promoting nor encouraging Iraqis to return home, given the lack of security and of access to essential services.