Iraq to build second camp for Syrian refugees
18/08/2012 14:48
ERBIL, August 18 (AKnews) – Iraqi authorities said the country
has started building a second Syrian refugee camp to house all Syrian
refugees.
Iraqi authorities decided to create the second camp in Qaem province, west Iraq, which is a border city with Syria.
Deputy
Minister of Migration and Displacement Salam al-Khafaji said: "We began
creating the second camp near the first one to transfer Syrian refugees
from temporary centers."
Since the outbreak of violence
in Syria more than 24,000 Iraqi refugees in the country have returned
to Iraq and more than 30,000 Syrian refugees have entered Iraq.
The
protests began in Syria in March last year and later turned to armed
clashes between Bashar al-Assad's forces and protesters. Some 19,000
lives have been lost since the uprising began, according to human rights
organizations.
By Raman Brusk
HH/DM/AKnews
