We sent in about 10,000 additional troops and 108,000 Iraqis fled. Wonder how many will have to flee if Bush sends in even more troops.

Since the February 22 bombing of a Shi’ite shrine that sparked a wave of sectarian killings between majority Shi’ites and minority Sunnis, about 432,000 [tag]Iraqis have fled their homes[/tag], Deputy Migration Minister Hamdiya Ahmad said.

“The main reason behind the rise of displaced families is the deterioration of the security situation and the death threats that people have received to flee their houses, in addition to the bombing of safe areas,” she said.

In Baghdad alone, 42,000 Iraqis have left their homes since the bombing of Samarra. Baghdad has a population of seven million.

The government acknowledges many people do not register with the ministry or have fled abroad, and so are not counted in these statistics.

Ms Ahmad said a large majority of people who have fled their homes come from farmland in the outskirts of Baghdad.

The Shi’ite Middle Euphrates region of Kerbala and Najaf, and the Shi’ite southern provinces have received the largest number of refugees, she said.

Read more at the Herald Sun

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