60,000 Iraqis Are Now Fleeing Their Homes Every Month

On the heels of a New York Times report about an Iraqi Red Crescent Organization assessment that the number of internally displaced Iraqis has doubled since February, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has announced that the humanitarian situation is worsening, and displacements are "soaring."

According to the UN, 60,000 people a month are now fleeing their homes. A total of 2 million are scattered within the country. More than 1.4 million more now live in Syria. Neighboring countries are feeling the strain on their infrastructure and schools. Refugees are also flooding into Europe, Jordan and Iran.

“Displacement is rising as Iraqis are finding it harder to get access to social services inside Iraq and many Iraqis are choosing to leave ethnically mixed areas before they are forced to do so," said UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis in a statement. "Some Iraqis who stayed in the country until the end of the school year recently started leaving the country with their families.”

Comments

[barry]

Wow, for a minute I thought you were talking about New Orleans. ray nagen was reelected wasn't he?