Over 17,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees arrived in Kurdistan since Turkey offensive: KRG
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The number of Syrian Kurdish refugees who have fled their homes to the Kurdistan Region since the start of Turkey’s military operation in northern Syria has exceeded 17,000, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) said on Sunday.
In a post on Twitter, the JCC said a new group of 178 refugees arrived in the autonomous Kurdish region through the Sehela border crossing.
The total number of Syrian Kurdish refugees is now 17,046. That number is in addition to the 226,000 Syrian refugees who were already living in the Kurdistan Region.
#Update: 24 November;
— JCC_KRG (@JccKrg) November 24, 2019
Syrian Refugee arrivals;
178 refugees arrived through Sehela.
Total arrivals:
17,046 refugees,#KRG MoI-JCC pic.twitter.com/DtHRNcebfz
The current camps in the Kurdistan Region were built as a rapid response to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugee crisis emanating from the rise of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Over the past few years, the Kurdistan Region has been home to 1.8 million IDPs and refugees who fled from Syria and other parts of Iraq. Nearly four million Iraqis were displaced when the terror group emerged in northern Iraq in mid-2014.
On Nov. 9, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited a Syrian refugee camp in Bardarash to discuss the needs and requirements with camp management and international and local organizations.
Read More: PM Masrour Barzani visits Syrian refugee camp in Kurdistan Region
The Bardarash camp currently hosts 2,619 Syrian refugee families, equivalent to about 12,000 individuals who fled to the Kurdistan Region following Turkey’s military assault on northeastern Syria on Oct. 9.
During his visit, Prime Minister Barzani called on “the International community and the Kurdistan Region’s partners to aid the KRG as it receives more refugees.”