For all that it's worthless in peacekeeping most times, the UN tends to keep a good eye on refugee crisises.GENEVA (AP) — Nearly 100,000 Iraqis are fleeing each month to Syria and Jordan, forcing the United Nations to set aside its goal of helping refugees return home after the U.S.-led invasion, officials said Friday.
Instead, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has drawn up plans to deal with the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who are desperate to escape the violence, chief spokesman Ron Redmond said.
It has been impossible to obtain accurate totals on the numbers of refugees because few Iraqis are registering with UNHCR, and most are being cared for by host families or charitable organizations.
The U.N. agency has been counting those entering Syria in recent months, however, and has found an average of 2,000 a day leaving Iraq by that route.
The outflow of refugees caught the agency by surprise because it was hard to detect.
‘‘If people flee to camps, it’s quite visible,’’ Redmond said. ‘‘This is a steady stream of people now who are leaving.’’
The Jordanian government says another 1,000 a day are entering Jordan, he said.
100,000 a month from a population of 27 million...
