- Title: IRAQ : KURDISH REFUGEES TAKEN TO UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE CAMPS
- Date: 26th March 1995
- Summary: ZAKHO, IRAQ (MARCH 26, 1995) (REUTERS TELEVISION - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) OFFICIALS BY U.N. VEHICLES 0.14 2. SV VARIOUS OF TURKISH KURDS IN BUS (4 SHOTS) 0.34 3. SV CONVOY MOVES OFF 0.51 4. SV VARIOUS OF CONVOY MOVING ALONG ROAD (2 SHOTS) 1.21 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights
- Embargoed: 10th April 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ZAKHO, NORTHERN IRAQ
- City:
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVADG6D8Z12SCJSIE6QXXHT7LW5I
- Story Text: A convoy taking up to 1,400 Turkish Kurd refugees out of a conflict zone on the Turkey-Iraq border arrived on Sunday (March 26) at a United Nations (U.N.) refugee camp near Atrush in northern Iraq.
A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the convoy experienced no major problems - apart from vehicle breakdowns - on the four-hour journey south from Zakho. It was escorted by U.N. guards.
The convoy was made up of about 30 vehicles, including trucks and minibuses, loaded with refugees taking all the possessions they could carry.
The UNHCR has repeatedly expressed concern for the fate of about 4,500 Turkish Kurd refugees in and around Zakho after more than 35,000 Turksh troops swept across the border to hunt out separatist guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Many of the Turkish Kurds in the area came there as refugees from previous Turkish incursions and military actions, and said they feared harassment from Turkish troops.
The U.N said there were about 230 families in the convoy. They came not only from Zakho itself but from two of five refugee villages near Zakho - Hizawa and Forqa.
There are now more than 10,000 refugees at the Atrush camp, which lies about 80 km (50 miles) from the border over the mountainous region's main road.
The camp is beyond the zone Turkish authorities have declared as the limit of their cross-border campaign.
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