UNITED NATIONS, July 28: Sounding alarm bells that a generation of Iraqis could grow up uneducated and alienated, the United Nations on Friday launched a $129 million appeal to ensure that tens of thousands of uprooted children who have fled their homeland can resume their education.

The UNHCR and the Unicef jointly presented the plan to support host governments such as Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon in providing schooling for an additional 155,000 young Iraqi refugees during the 2007-2008 school year.

“These host countries have borne an enormous burden caring for millions of Iraqis,” UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Judy Cheng-Hopkins told news conference at the United Nations in Geneva, noting that of the more than 2 million Iraqis have fled the continuing violence in their homeland, some 500,000 are of school age and most currently have limited or no access to education.

The appeal notes that about 300,000 Iraqi school-age children in Syria, only about 33,000 are currently enrolled, although the Government has given them full access to schools.