The U.N. refugee agency has said that 122 Iraqi refugees have been resettled in Germany as part of a Council of the European Union decision encouraging EU states to take in some 10,000 Iraqi refugees this year. “Germany is providing a very positive example, which we hope will inspire other European countries to consider resettling Iraqi refugees during 2009. We estimate over 60,000 Iraqi refugees need resettlement from Iraq's neighboring countries, the majority in Syria and Lebanon,” the U.N. refugee agency said in a statement. Meanwhile, the United States has announced that it was donating more than $140 million to help displaced Iraqis. The funding will go to the U.N. 2009 Consolidated Appeal for Iraq. That appeal called for $547 million to support the United Nations' activities in Iraq aiding displaced Iraqis. The bulk of the funds, $90 million, will go to the U.N. refugee agency and the rest will be distributed among the U.N. children's fund and the World Health Organization.
