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| Sunday, 02 March 2003 |
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70,000 migrant workers could flee Iraq-aid agency GENEVA, Saturday (Reuters) Up to 70,000 migrant workers could join a refugee exodus from Iraq in the event of war, a major aid agency said on Friday. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it would need $26 million to help repatriate the workers, expected to head initially to Jordan, over a six-month period. "So far, IOM has raised $500,000 from donors," IOM spokeswoman Niurka Pineiro told a news briefing. IOM experts also believe that in a "worst-case scenario", some of the 12.3 million additional migrants who work in the Gulf could decide to leave the region and return home, according to the spokeswoman. The migrants, who often send remittances to families at home, are primarily from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines but also include workers from India, Egypt, Pakistan and Yemen, she added. "IOM, which is in contact with concerned governments, would be in a position to help these people, if the security situation permits and if donor funding became available," Pineiro said. During the 1990-91 Gulf crisis and war, the Geneva-based agency helped repatriate 218,000 stranded migrant workers forced to leave Kuwait or Iraq. The $70 million operation was funded by powers including Britain, Japan, the European Community and the United States. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spearheaded relief efforts for two million Iraqi refugees during the 1991 Gulf War. The UNHCR has forecast that, if there is a war again soon over Iraq's alleged banned weapons, 600,000 Iraqis could flee abroad. |
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