Fallujah refugees freezing

U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network [These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] IRAQ-JORDAN: Refugees on Jordanian border in poor conditions, UNHCR says ANKARA, 14 February (IRIN) - A group of Iranian Kurdish refugees that recently arrived at the Iraq-Jordan border, living in harsh desert-like conditions, have received some aid following calls from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). There were serious concerns over the welfare of pregnant women, children and sick people among the refugees. "Conditions are atrocious really and there are no facilities. There are scorpions and obviously it is even worse for the vulnerable groups," a spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Geneva, Marie-Helene Verney, told IRIN. With temperatures dropping to minus zero, the refugees have been forced to sleep out in the open since mid January. The Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organisation delivered UNHCR-provided food, plastic sheeting, mattresses, blankets and jerry cans to the refugees who had arrived at the border in three batches over the past four weeks. The group of 102 Iranian Kurds, who arrived from the Al-Tash camp west of Baghdad, are stuck on the Iraqi side of the border after not being given permission to enter Jordan. Verney said that the refugees had left the camp due to fighting in the nearby city of Fallujah where US troops had been trying to flush out insurgents since November 2004. While some went to the north of Iraq, others [m]ade a perilous journey to the border with Jordan. "It is quite hard for us to monitor movements of refugees due to insecurity," she explained....

Thanks, Mr. Bush-war. Be sure to add this to your legacy.