Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Media: AFP
Byline: n/a
Date: 13 October 2006
GENEVA - Iraq is suffering from a "steady, silent exodus" of more than
40,000 people a month fleeing violence and the flow of refugees towards
Europe is growing, the UN refugee agency said Friday.
Asylum claims by Iraqis in mainly European industralised countries in the
first six months of the year grew by more than 50 percent compared to the
first half of 2005 to reach 8,100, Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Iraqis are now the largest single national group seeking asylum in European
countries, he told journalists.
About 1.6 million Iraqis are now abroad. UNHCR staff monitoring the border
say that at least 40,000 Iraqis are crossing into Syria every month,
reversing a previous trend of returns.
More than 365,000 people have fled their homes in Iraqi since sectarian
violence intensified February, the United Nations said this week.
"Many of them are moving on to other countries in what could be termed a
steady, silent exodus," Redmond told journalists.
"Tens of thousands are moving on to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gulf states
and Europe," he added.
About 50,000 Iraqis are fleeing their homes every month, according to the
UNHCR, bringing the total of internally displaced to 1.5 million. In some
central areas the number of displaced has increased ten-fold since the
begining of the year, the agency added.
"The enormous scale of the needs, the ongoing violence and the difficulties
in reaching the displaced make it a problem that is practically beyond the
capacity of humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR," Redmond warned.
"The longer this goes on, the more difficult it gets as both the internally
displaced and their host communities run our of resources," he added.
The number of Iraqis returning home from neighbouring countries has also
slowed sharply from 50,000 last year to 1,000 so far this year, Redmond
said.
An estimated 500,000 Iraqis are in Jordan and some 450,000 are in Syria.
The numbers include Iraqis who were exiled before the US-led invasion in
2003 and had remained outside the country.
Byline: n/a
Date: 13 October 2006
GENEVA - Iraq is suffering from a "steady, silent exodus" of more than
40,000 people a month fleeing violence and the flow of refugees towards
Europe is growing, the UN refugee agency said Friday.
Asylum claims by Iraqis in mainly European industralised countries in the
first six months of the year grew by more than 50 percent compared to the
first half of 2005 to reach 8,100, Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Iraqis are now the largest single national group seeking asylum in European
countries, he told journalists.
About 1.6 million Iraqis are now abroad. UNHCR staff monitoring the border
say that at least 40,000 Iraqis are crossing into Syria every month,
reversing a previous trend of returns.
More than 365,000 people have fled their homes in Iraqi since sectarian
violence intensified February, the United Nations said this week.
"Many of them are moving on to other countries in what could be termed a
steady, silent exodus," Redmond told journalists.
"Tens of thousands are moving on to Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, the Gulf states
and Europe," he added.
About 50,000 Iraqis are fleeing their homes every month, according to the
UNHCR, bringing the total of internally displaced to 1.5 million. In some
central areas the number of displaced has increased ten-fold since the
begining of the year, the agency added.
"The enormous scale of the needs, the ongoing violence and the difficulties
in reaching the displaced make it a problem that is practically beyond the
capacity of humanitarian agencies, including UNHCR," Redmond warned.
"The longer this goes on, the more difficult it gets as both the internally
displaced and their host communities run our of resources," he added.
The number of Iraqis returning home from neighbouring countries has also
slowed sharply from 50,000 last year to 1,000 so far this year, Redmond
said.
An estimated 500,000 Iraqis are in Jordan and some 450,000 are in Syria.
The numbers include Iraqis who were exiled before the US-led invasion in
2003 and had remained outside the country.