VOA News - Numbers of Displaced in Iraq Rising

VOA News - Numbers of Displaced in Iraq Rising: "Numbers of Displaced in Iraq Rising
By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
03 October 2006


Iraqis get into a bus at an international bus station in Baghdad 28 September 2006. Baghdad's bus stations are stranded on a daily basis by thousands of Iraqis fleeing the war torn country
Iraqis get into a bus at an international bus station in Baghdad, Sept. 28, 2006.
The International Organization for Migration reports the number of Iraqis fleeing their homes to escape sectarian strife is rising dramatically, with as many as 9,000 people being displaced each week.

The International Organization for Migration says nearly 190,000 people in the 15 central and southern provinces of Iraq have been displaced by violence since the bombing in late February in Samarra.

It says displacement is following sectarian lines with Shi'ites moving to the South and Sunnis moving to the Central areas. It says Anbar Province has received the largest number of displaced, with more than 33,000 people, most from Baghdad. It notes nearly two thirds of them are in Falluja, Harma and Heet."