国际英语新闻:Nearly 190,000 Syrian refugees seek shelter in Iraq: UN

BAGHDAD, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 190,000 Syrian refugees were currently in Iraq following a sudden influx of refugees over the past few days since the beginning of the 29-month-old Syrian conflict, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday.

More than 4,500 Syrian refugees entered Iraq on Tuesday after crossing the border in the Peshkhabour area in Dohuk province, which is part of Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, Liene Veide, UNHCR spokeswoman in the area, told Xinhua by telephone.

Earlier in the day, UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards in Geneva said that around 30,000 Syrian refugees had crossed the border into northern Iraq from Thursday to Monday and thousands more were waiting to enter, fleeing communities across a wide swathe of northern Syria.

He added in a press briefing emailed to Xinhua that before the migration, some 155,000 Syrian refugees had already registered in Iraq.

The refugees, mainly from the war-torn cities of Efrin, Aleppo, Hassake and Qamishly, complained about the collapse of economy due to the unrest and ensuing difficulties in taking care of their families, he added.

In reaction to the huge influx, the UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies set up shelters near the crossing points, he said.

Iraq already has a problem of its own in terms of humanitarian crisis. The UN mission in the country warned on Monday that some 1. 1 million internally displaced Iraqis are facing a tough future.

"In makeshift dwellings and temporary accommodation, they struggle to buy food and get access to health care and education," Jacqueline Badcock, UN deputy special envoy to Iraq said in a statement issued on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day.

Waves of conflicts in the past decade have displaced families all over Iraq. The country ranks second in the number of internally displaced persons in the Middle East after the violence- stricken Syria.