Middle East News

Iraqis move to Kurdish north to escape Baghdad violence

Jan 6, 2008, 16:33 GMT

Arbil, Iraq - Iraqis living in and around Baghdad have increasingly been fleeing the violence to seek sanctuary in the Kurdish autonomous region in the relatively quieter north, Arbil's governor told the press on Sunday.

'The improvement of security in Baghdad has not prompted displaced people living in the Kurdish region to return to their hometowns in central Iraq,' Governor Nozad Hady said.

'On the contrary, the numbers of settlers has increased lately from 12,000 families to 16,000,' he said.

The majority of settlers in the Kurdish region are Kurds who have fled Baghdad, Mosul and Anbar province. Others are Iraqi Christians and Sunni Arabs, according to Hady.

'Many of the Sunni Arabs are doctors or professors, and we need their expertise. The sons of some families also work as interpreters with the US military and the multinational forces in Iraq,' he added.