The U.N. refugee agency said on Aug. 19 that some 30,000 Syrians had streamed into northern Iraq and thousands more were waiting to enter. “This new exodus from Syria is among the largest we have so far seen during the conflict, which is now into its third year,” said Dan McNorton, a U.N. spokesperson. “As well as people who told us they were fleeing recent bombings, others say they were escaping fighting and tension amongst various factions on the ground.” The influx began in mid-August when the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities in northern Iraq suddenly opened access to a pontoon bridge, allowing several hundred people camped in the area since earlier last week to enter Iraq. By the following morning thousands had swarmed across the swaying bridge. The tide of refugees continued as reports emerged of high casualties following an alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus over a neighborhood controlled by Syrian rebels.
Syrians Flee Into Iraq
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
In this episode of Inside the Vatican, Colleen Dulle and Gerard O’Connell discuss the 2025 Jubilee Year, beginning on Christmas Eve 2024 and ending in January 2026.
Pope Francis prayed that the Jubilee Year may become “a season of hope” and reconciliation in a world at war and suffering humanitarian crises as he opened the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve.
‘If God can visit us, even when our hearts seem like a lowly manger, we can truly say: Hope is not dead; hope is alive and it embraces our lives forever!’
Inspired by his friend and mentor Henri Nouwen, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, leader of Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S., invites listeners in his Christmas Eve homily to approach the manger with renewed awe and openness.