Sunday, Mar 23, 2003
`Over 4 lakh Iraqis flee their homes'
Geneva March 22. An estimated 300,000 to 450,000 people have fled their homes in northern of Iraq, the United Nations said in its latest humanitarian situation report on Iraq obtained today.
Most of the displaced people had fled Kirkuk, Erbil and Dahuk to head to Sulaymaniya in the north east of the country, according to the U.N. Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. Some people had left Sulaymaniya but were now returning to their homes, the report said.
However, an estimated 85 per cent of Dahuk's 120,000 inhabitants had deserted the city to stay in villages further east.
The report, released in Geneva, was dated March 21. ``IDP (Internally Displaced People) movements in the north continue,'' it said.
``It is estimated that 90 per cent of the internally displaced people are staying with relatives and are not in need of immediate assistance,'' the U.N. added.
The report also indicated that people were largely unable to flee into Kurdish rebel-controlled areas in the north.
``The Iraqi checkpoints are closed, therefore movement to the three northern Governorates from the centre/south has come to a virtual halt,'' it said. The report gave no indication of any fighting in the north. - AFP
Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu