The New Nation (Bangladesh)
July 21, 2012 Saturday
Thousands of refugees flee violence
Dhaka
Dhaka, July 21 — Thousands of Syrian refugees are pouring into
neighbouring countries as fighting between government forces and
rebels intensifies. The UN refugee agency says up to 30,000 people are
reported to have fled across the border into Lebanon over the past 48
hours.
More refugees are said to be crossing into Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.
Meanwhile, clashes have continued in Damascus, with the military
repelling a rebel assault in the Midan area.
State media announced on Friday that Midan had been “cleaned” of
“terrorists”. Rebels said they had withdrawn from Midan after coming
under bombardment.
Journalists were allowed into Midan on Friday, and pictures showed
dust-covered corpses lying in the streets, with tanks and burnt-out
cars littering the area. Activists said fierce fighting was also
taking place in Syria’s second city, Aleppo.
Syria’s national security chief Hisham Ikhtiar has died from injuries
received in Wednesday’s attack on the national security bureau, state
TV announced, the fourth high-ranking fatality.
The UN Security Council is holding emergency talks after Russia and
China vetoed a resolution over the mandate of a UN observer force in
Syria. Russia has agreed to delay a shipment of attack helicopters to
Syria, the Interfax news agency reported.
Russia’s envoy to France has sparked a row by saying Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad was ready to step down. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR)
said on Friday that between 8,500 and 30,000 Syrian refugees had
crossed into Lebanon in the previous 48 hours.
Many are believed to be fleeing the recent eruption of violence in the
capital, Damascus.
The UNHCR says there are already 26,900 registered Syrian refugees in
Lebanon, although activists say the real figure is much higher.
Widespread damage was visible after rebels withdrew from the Midan
area of Damascus A UNHCR spokesman told AFP news agency that about
2,500 people had arrived in Jordan over the past four days, adding to
the 35,000 registered Syrian refugees already there. A spokesman
described it as “a steady flow”.
About 140,000 Syrians are believed to have fled to Jordan since the
uprising against President Assad began in March last year. The
Jordanian government is building several refugee camps for them.
Reports also suggested that more than 3,000 Syrians had crossed into
Iraq in the past 24 hours.
Some Iraqis, who were returning from Syria, have told the BBC they had
been forced to flee their homes near Damascus because of sectarian
violence and intimidation. They said they had been targeted by the
rebel Free Syrian Army.
BBC Caucasus correspondent Damien McGuinness says that Armenia is
seeing an influx of ethnic Armenians who have lived in Syria for
generations, but the government is accused of not doing enough to help
them.
Refugees have been staging protests outside the Armenian parliament,
saying they have received no help with housing or jobs, he adds.
Reports say thousands of refugees are also continuing to cross Syria’s
northern border with Turkey where more than 40,000 are already
registered with aid agencies.
As the fighting continued, rebels managed to seize control of several
border posts late on Thursday. The rebels attacked crossings both on
the southern frontier with Iraq and the northern border with Turkey.
Government forces have been trying to retake some of the areas since,
and it is unclear who is in control of the borders.
Russia’s envoy to France, Alexander Orlov, sparked a row by saying
that Assad had, in effect, agreed to step down last month at a
conference in Geneva which had planned for a democratic transition.
Published by HT Syndication with permission from The New Nation. For
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From: A. Papazian