Al-Hayat: Syrian preparations to receive one million Iraqi refugees

The London- based al-Hayat daily said yesterday quoting well-informed sources in Damascus that there are ongoing official preparations to receive some one million Iraqi refugees on the Syrian borders in case a military attack is made against Iraq.

The sources indicated that President Bashar al-Assad gave instruction in October, during a meeting for the National Progressive Front to start taking Logistic measures to received hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in case a military attack is made.

These sources added to the paper that a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the prime minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro to implement these directives and resulted in forming a ministerial committee chaired by the deputy premier for economic affairs and the membership of ten ministers and specialized branch committees in all logistic measures, and that contacts were made with the director of the UNDP in Damascus, Twaoufiq Bin Amara, for the UN sides to ensure needs to receive some one million Iraqi refugees.

The paper also quoted diplomatic sources in Damascus as saying that the UNHCR received an official license to extend work al-Hal camp, which is situated in Hassaka, Northern- East Syria, which has hosted some 15,000 Iraqi refugees following the Gulf war in 1991, and that that UNHCR also asked for the foundation of other five camps that can accommodate 200,000 Iraqi refugees.

Al-Hayat said that the Syrian authorities seems to have taken tangible steps to establish hospitals at the borders. The Syrian Red Crescent started to receive volunteers and building camps to accommodate some 5,000 refugees in al-Tanf area, and the ICRC committee in Damascus received a Syrian consent to establish a logistic point in Deir Ezz Zour to supply some 5,000 refugees and to move into inside Iraq in cases of emergencies.

The paper concluded saying that the UN establishments and Damascus agree on the point to leave these preparations secret in order not to give the impression that they approve of any military attack, adding that the ICRC representatives were greatly criticized for talking openly about their emergency plan concerning the future phase.