(Zaman Al Wasl)- Iraqi refugees’ influx to al-Hol camp in northeastern Hasaka province has continued as a result of the ongoing Mosul battles between the U.S.-backed Iraqi army and Islamic State.
The huge influx of refugees fleeing the Iraqi cities of Salah-Eddin and Nineveh has forced Syrian Democratic forces to open their barriers and let people who stuck at barriers for long time to pass.
Manager of the Human Right organisation in Syria Farhan Saleh al-Turky told Zaman al-Wasl that 2700 refugees were stuck at the Syrian-Iraqi barriers, were transferred to camps in Hasaka.
Al-Turky added: “the total number of Iraqi refugees in al-Hol camp reached to 10,000, which is the highest number to reach since founding the camp, the camp administration needed to put three families in one tent, while other families slept outdoor on ground without any cover or minimum living needs.
The manager appealed for Iraqi government and Kurdistan territory to act in order to transfer Iraqi families to the province of Salah Eddin, because the camp suffers of critical and difficult humanitarian situation due to high influx of Iraqi refugees.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees “UNHCR” and other organisations are getting ready to a huge wave of refugees to arrive Hasaka via the barrier of “Tal Safouk” coming from Iraq due to Mosul battle. UNHCR plans to host 90 thousand refugees at a rate of 1000 refugees a day, and it would establish a cooperation office to organise the effort and communicate with the province and other forces controlling the Hasaka.
Speaking in Baghdad just hours after the beginning of Mosul battle, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stressed that civilian protection must be part of the military strategy for retaking Iraq’s second city, which was home to nearly 2.5 million people before it was taken by militants in June 2014.
“It is likely that people who move out will not stay for a short period, but may stay for several weeks or months, and this is during the winter season, so we need to give them appropriate assistance,” Grandi said, noting that obtaining the money is therefore “urgent.”
Thousands of refugees from Deir Ezzor share the same fate of Iraqi refugees, as they gather at the crossing point of Tal Safouk, at the barrier of Rajm Salibi, a village between al-Hol town and Tal Safouk, according to activist Malaz al-Yusuf.
The activist reported that UNHCR is working on expanding the al-Hol camp by installing more tents, as about 400 families for Deir Ezzor arrived to the camp, and many try to leave the camp due the bad living conditions, and finding difficulties on living in tents.
The Kurdish Self- Administration has founded the camp last April to host displaced people who run away from conflicting areas inside Iraq and who stuck at the Syrian-Iraqi borders.
Al-Hol camp is situated to the West of al-Hol town, 5 km away form the centre, it has about 130 house with capacity of 200 families, it was founded in the time of the American war against Iraq and supervised by the United Nation to host the Palestinian who run away from Iraq. It was evacuated due to regime’s shelling in 2012, to be later accommodation for families of Islamic State’s militants.
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