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Iraq

Iraqi Kurdistan Sets Quota As Refugees Flee Syria Clashes

Kurdish refugees wait on the Iraqi side of the border after arriving from Syria.
1/14 Kurdish refugees wait on the Iraqi side of the border after arriving from Syria.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
Refugees receive food and water in the border village of Sihela, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
2/14 Refugees receive food and water in the border village of Sihela, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
3/14
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
Emergency aid packages are thrown to the crowd.
4/14 Emergency aid packages are thrown to the crowd.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
UN officials are describing the recent flight of Syrian Kurds as one of the biggest outward migrations of Syria's civil war.
5/14 UN officials are describing the recent flight of Syrian Kurds as one of the biggest outward migrations of Syria's civil war.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
Children seek shelter from the sun.
6/14 Children seek shelter from the sun.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
7/14
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
After being registered near the border, the refugees are transported to camps in Irbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces, both in the autonomous Kurdish region.
8/14 After being registered near the border, the refugees are transported to camps in Irbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces, both in the autonomous Kurdish region.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
Part of an earlier wave of refugees, a child carries supplies at the Domeez refugee camp in Iraq's Duhok Province on July 4.
9/14 Part of an earlier wave of refugees, a child carries supplies at the Domeez refugee camp in Iraq's Duhok Province on July 4.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
Syrian refugees wait at the health center at the refugee camp in Domeez.
10/14 Syrian refugees wait at the health center at the refugee camp in Domeez.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
The refugee camp in Domeez
11/14 The refugee camp in Domeez
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
12/14
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
A man sells ice cream in the Domeez camp.
13/14 A man sells ice cream in the Domeez camp.
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
14/14
Some 30,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region in the past week, according to the UN refugee agency. Many of the refugees say they are fleeing threats from the Al-Nusra Front, a Sunni rebel group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Kurds arriving in Iraq at the Peshkhabour border crossing are registered and receive humanitarian aid before being transported to makeshift refugee camps in the Kurdish region. (Photos by Abdel Khaleq Sultan of RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq)
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Aid agencies say Iraq's Kurdish regional government has set an entry quota of 3,000 refugees a day to cope with a growing number of Kurds fleeing the civil war in Syria.

The UN refugee agency said on August 19 that some 30,000 refugees, mainly Syrian Kurds, had poured into Iraq since August 15.

Jumbe Omari Jumbe of the International Organization for Migration told reporters in Geneva that 3,000 refugees will be allowed in on August 20.

Jumbe said that on August 19, although a similar quota had been set, almost 5,000 refugees were allowed to cross.

Syrian Kurds fear attacks by various armed rebel groups after fresh fighting broke out between Kurdish militias and Al-Qaeda-linked rebels in northeastern Syria.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the clashes on August 20 pitted the Committees for the Protection of the Kurdish People against two groups connected with Al-Qaeda -- the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as well as the Al-Nusra Front.

The group said fighting was focused on three villages near the town of Ras al-Ayn in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hassakeh.

The massive refugee influx has severely strained Kurdistan's regional government in northern Iraq.

Earlier this month, Kurdish Iraqi leader Masud Barzani threatened to intervene in Syria to protect the country's large Kurdish population from jihadists.

The UN estimates that almost 2 million people have fled Syria during the 29-month conflict.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP
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