Photo Gallery: Iraqi Refugees in Limbo

What would you do if you had to flee your home for another land — yet couldn't get a job, schooling for your kids or even basic medical care in your host country? That's the question that 2 million Iraqi refugees face as they try to start new lives in places like Lebanon and Syria. Forbidden to work in many cases, and shut out from services that citizens receive, these refugees wait out the days — hoping against hope that they'll get visas to third countries.

Catholic Relief Services' partners in the Middle East, like Caritas Lebanon, provide food, medical care and help with rent to thousands of refugees. But for many, the future is bleak. Unless they are allowed to work or to migrate to other countries, Iraqi refugees will remain stuck in a holding pattern.

Click through our gallery to learn more about the everyday realities faced by Iraqi refugees in the Middle East. Photos by Laura Sheahen/CRS

Laura Sheahen works as CRS' regional information officer for Europe and the Middle East. She is based in Cairo.