Iraqi Red Crescent: 1.14M Iraqis have been displaced

[ck4829]

The number of Iraqis who have fled their homes under threat of sectarian violence has more than doubled since the start of the year, despite the increase in American troops that began in February, a humanitarian organization said.

The number of displaced Iraqis shot upward from 447,337 on Jan. 1 to 1.14 million on July 31, the Iraqi Red Crescent Organization said Saturday.

Though the addition of some 30,000 U.S. troops since February has brought down violence in Baghdad, it also led to increased clashes with militants.

"Does this surge have anything to do with it? We don't know," said Saeed Haqi, head of the Iraqi Red Crescent — the local partner organization of the International Committee of the Red Cross. "But they're leaving because of the security situation in general."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070826/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_displaced_people

[moondust]

1. Or worse.

http://www.unhcr.org/iraq.html

UNHCR estimates that more than 4.2 million Iraqis have left their homes. Of these, some 2.2 million Iraqis are displaced internally, while more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring states, particularly Syria and Jordan. Many were displaced prior to 2003, but an increasing number are fleeing now. In 2006, Iraqis had become the leading nationality seeking asylum in Europe.