In One Week 29000 Syrian Kurd Refugees Cross into Northern Iraq

Catholic Online: The construction of a new pontoon bridge has brought with it thousands of Syrian refugees, many from the embattled city of Aleppo, into the northern province of Iraq known as Kurdistan. An astonishing 29,000 refugees have streamed into Iraq since late last week. Observers say it’s one of the largest crossings in Syria’s two-year-old conflict.

The United nations says that the massive influx of refugees is ongoing. “It is a massive movement of people,” Dan McNorton, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

Some 20,000 are believed to have crossed over on Thursday and Saturday of last week. An additional 6,000 refugees on Sunday and about 3,000 on Monday are estimated to have arrived, McNorton said.

The previous record for Syrians fleeing the country in a 24-hour period was around 9,000. Those refugees were believed to have left on a single day last November, headed for Turkey. More on this here.