This paper looks at how UNHCR has gone about creating,maintaining and expanding protection space for Iraqi refugees in the context of the Jordan,Syria and Lebanon. The paper is divided into two parts. The first touches on UNHCR's mandate and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees,which together provided,for the first time,a formal structure for the protection of refugees under international law. The second part of the paper turns attention to the Iraqi displacement to Syria,Jordan and Lebanon. It begins by outlining the protection environment as regards refugees in the region and indicates the protection needs faced by Iraqi refugees,or rather rights which remain be realized by Iraqi refugees in these countries.