Thousands
of refugees from Syria are pouring over the border into Iraqi Kurdistan, the UN
refugee agency says.
Up to
10,000 crossed at Peshkhabour on Saturday, bringing the total influx since
Thursday to 20,000. The UN says the reasons are not fully clear.
The UN
agencies, the Kurdish regional government and NGOs are struggling to cope,
correspondents say. It comes
as UN chemical weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus on Sunday on a
much-delayed mission.
The team
will visit three sites over two weeks, including the northern town of Khan
al-Assal which is at the centre of allegations of chemical weapons use.
'War and looting'
The UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says this is one of the biggest single
waves of refugees it has had to deal with since the uprising against the rule
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
Up to
10,000 crossed at Peshkhabour on Saturday, bringing the total influx since
Thursday to 20,000. The UN says the reasons are not fully clear.
The UN
agencies, the Kurdish regional government and NGOs are struggling to cope,
correspondents say.
It comes
as UN chemical weapons inspectors arrived in Damascus on Sunday on a
much-delayed mission.
The team
will visit three sites over two weeks, including the northern town of Khan
al-Assal which is at the centre of allegations of chemical weapons use.
'War and looting'
The UN
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says this is one of the biggest single
waves of refugees it has had to deal with since the uprising against the rule
of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.
Another
refugee, Ahmed Karim, told the agency he left Syria to save his wife and
three-week-old baby from dying of starvation.
"There was a
shortage of food in the market, and everything became expensive, from bread to
gas canisters, and unemployment was spreading," he said.
Some
150,000 Syrian refugees are already registered in Iraq, of the nearly two
million said to have fled Syria in total since the uprising began.
New camp
The UNHCR
says its field officers spotted the first group of 750 Syrians before noon on
Thursday but in the afternoon, some 5,000 to 7,000 people followed.
The UN
said the latest refugees had come from Aleppo, Hassakeh, Qamishli and other
areas of conflict.
On Friday,
UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva: "The factors
allowing this sudden movement are not fully clear to us."
The UN
said it was working with the Iraqi Kurdistan government and other agencies to
establish a camp at nearby Darashakran.
"This should open
in two weeks, and our hope is it will relieve pressure," Mr Edwards said.
The ethnic
make-up of the latest wave has not been detailed.
Kurds make
up about 10% of the Syrian population and are largely concentrated in the north-east.
They
staged their own anti-Assad protests after the Syria conflict began in 2011 and
their areas have been run by Kurdish local councils and militia since
government forces withdrew last year.
But the
Kurdish militias have recently been fighting jihadists of the anti-Assad
al-Nusra Front, leaving dozens dead.
The
president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, recently threatened to intervene
to defend the Kurdish population caught up in Syria's unrest.
He said if
Kurds were "under threat of death and terrorism" then Iraqi Kurdistan
would be "prepared to defend them".
Iraqi
Kurdistan comprises three provinces in northern Iraq. It has its own military
and police force.
Are you crossing the
border? What can you see? Why have you made the journey? Send us your comments
and photos using the form below.
Source: BBC World
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