Border relief resources move into Iraq

Relief workers in the southeastern Turkish border town of Silopi have turned their attention to the humanitarian crisis inside Iraq after concerns over an influx of refugees into Turkey failed to materialise. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Turkey on Wednesday confirmed that since the start of the conflict in Iraq almost two months ago, the agency had not received "a single refugee". "Admittedly, it has been a bit of a surprise for the humanitarian community, who had anticipated large numbers of people at the Turkish border posts attempting to cross over from Iraq. But up until now, UNHCR has not had a single reported case of an individual or a family seeking refuge or asylum," the UNHCR logistics officer in Silopi, Estelle Salavin, told IRIN. She noted that the agency had originally braced itself to handle an estimated 136,000 incoming refugees. "Through our implementing partners, we were ready to provide blankets, tents, kitchen utensils and bottled water to those who arrived in the first few days," Salavin said. Additionally, Turkish relief workers had stockpiled enough food, medical supplies, and heating equipment at border posts to care for 30,000 people. At the time, the Turkish Red Crescent said that if there was an unexpectedly large influx of refugees, it could raise stocks for up to 200,000 people. In 1991, more than 500,000 Iraqi Kurds spilled into Turkey in a matter of days to escape former Iraqi President Saddam Husayn's reprisals during the Kurdish uprising that followed the Gulf War. "We are still unclear as to why people decided to stay in Iraq given the insecurity in certain parts. Reports indicated that instead of fleeing to other countries, many people decided to move to safer areas within the country. These people have been helped by families and local organisations," Salavin said. While UNHCR plans to scale down its operation along the border between Turkey and Iraq, Turkish officials told IRIN that their country would continue to provide support for people who had fled Iraq prior to the recent war and who now wished to return home. Meanwhile, the border itself remains closed although discussions are under way with Ankara to open it to enable returnees to go home. UNHCR stressed that it could facilitate such repatriations, but was not currently encouraging would-be returnees to go, telling them that the agency could neither monitor nor guarantee their safety upon return. Meanwhile, UNHCR and other aid agencies have diverted aid and redeployed personnel to Iraq to bolster relief efforts already under way. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Turkey has also scaled down its Iraq border operation. "Our Silopi office is back to just one staff member from a maximum of five," the IOM chief of mission in Ankara, Regina Boucault, told IRIN. She added that IOM was ready to assist in the repatriation of Iraqis across the border when it opened, but currently had no caseload. "Although we had been extremely prepared to accept people, it is reassuring that many people decided to stay in Iraq instead of leaving. We can now focus our energy and resources on the needs inside Iraq. Already vehicles and much-needed items that were originally destined to help refugees coming into Turkey have been moved to Iraq," Salavin said.