Iraq's Growing Refugee Crisis

A displaced Iraqi family outside Fallujah on Friday, after Iraqi government forces evacuated civilians from the city amid the battle against Islamic State militants. PHOTO: MOADH AL-DULAIMI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

DW: Refugees in Iraq caught between soldiers and jihadists

Iraqi fighting forces are preparing an attack on Mosul. Thousands of people have fled the city ahead of the expected battle, yet aid organizations expect even larger waves of refugees soon.

They would have either been killed by "Islamic State" (IS) henchmen, or by Iraqi army bombs, so they decided to flee. That is how a young mother who fled Mosul with her children summed up her decision. Thus far, some 100,000 of the city's residents have come to the same conclusion.

Mosul has a population of more than one million, and has been under the control of "IS" for two years. Since the Iraqi army began slowly tightening its containment ring around city in March, ever more residents have decided to flee in an attempt to save themselves from the impending battle. "First people fled from 'IS'. Now they are fleeing from the Iraqi army," a young Iraqi soldier told the Baghdad-based daily newspaper Al Mada.

Read more ....

Update: Millions driven from Iraq's tormented lands have nothing to return to (CNN).

WNU Editor: As bad as Iraq's refugee crisis is .... when  the assault on Mosul begins, this refugee crisis is going to explode.

Iraq's Refugee Crisis Now Numbers One Million Internally Displaced Persons

Iraq's Displaced Top One Million -- Voice of America

GENEVA — The International Organization for Migration reports fighting in Iraq between Islamic State rebels and Kurdish Peshmerga military has pushed the number of internally displaced people in Iraq to over one million. IOM says this is the highest number of IDPs in Iraq since the Islamist advance began in January.

According to IOM, more than 54 percent of Iraq's displaced have fled their homes since June. That is when Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, began an accelerated push for territory in northern Iraq.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The above CNN video is a revealing report from Ivan Watson on how an unfinished Iraqi church is now being used by hundreds of displaced Iraqis who are hiding from ISIS.

U.N. Counts 11.4 Million Refugees Worldwide, 26 Million Internally Displaced

Afghan Refugee Camp

From MSNBC:

LONDON - Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, driving up the global number of refugees after several years of decline, the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday.

UNHCR said in its annual report that in 2007 11.4 million refugees were living outside their countries, compared with 9.9 million in 2006. A further 26 million were displaced within their own countries, up from 24.2 million the year before.

The group said almost half the world's refugees are from Afghanistan and Iraq. UNHCR said there are 3 million displaced Afghans, most in neighboring Pakistan and Iran, and 2 million Iraqi refugees, mostly in Syria and Jordan. A further 2.4 million Iraqis are internally displaced, an increase of 600,000 since the start of 2007.

Read more ....

My Comment: These scars will never heal.