Busloads of People Flee Iraq War for
Camp in Jordan
Thu
March 20, 2003 06:51 AM ET
By Christine Hauser
RUWEISHED, Jordan (Reuters) - Packed into buses with
luggage and blankets stuffed under their seats, the first
group of people to escape war in Iraq and flee to Jordan
arrived on Thursday at a barren desert camp set up near the
border.
Three busloads of Sudanese families, dazed from lack of
sleep after a journey of more than 18 hours from Baghdad
across Iraq's western desert, disembarked blinking into the
sunshine and trudged through deep sand to tents flapping in a
blustery sandstorm.
"We ate a few boiled eggs on the way and slept upright in
our seats," said Alawia Abdullah, her eyes watery with tears,
as she waited to climb out.
Her three children sat silent and wide-eyed next to her in
the gloom of the bus. Her husband remained behind in Iraq.
One of the travelers had a small portable radio with him
during the journey, and informed the others when he heard
about the early morning U.S. missile strike on Baghdad.
Officials at the Jordan Red Crescent said they expect up to
276 Sudanese on Thursday, the first batch of non-Iraqis to
flee war for Jordan and arrive at the camp run by the
Jordanian Red Crescent and its federation with the Red Cross.
"We have the capacity to hold up to 5,000 people and expand
it if needed," said Rana Sidani, a spokeswoman. She said 26 of
those who arrived on Thursday would remain in the camp because
they had no papers, and the others would be sent on to Sudan.
"The third country nationals will come in and should be out
again in weeks," United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) senior logistics officer Douglas Osmond.
SECOND CAMP
Jordan, more than 500 km (310 miles) from Baghdad, is
preparing a second camp near the border with Iraq run by UNHCR
strictly for Iraqi refugees.
Both camps were initially expected to be able to hold about
20,000 people each.
Around Osmond, families dragged bulging suitcases and bags
across the sand. One man carried a ceiling fan.
Bashir Abdullah, a tailor, followed a camp worker from the
bus and was shown into a white plastic tent. The flap was held
aside for the 43-year old man and his wife and four children.
They collapsed in fatigue on the thin mattresses, the walls
of the tent whipping violently around them.
"We heard about Bush's deadline on the radio on Wednesday
and decided for the sake of the children we had to leave,"
said Abdullah, referring to President Bush's deadline for
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to go into exile or face war.
"We locked the door of our apartment tight," Abdullah said.
His wife, Amouna Noreddin, sat next to her sleeping
toddler.
"We had such lovely furniture," she said.
Her husband shrugged his shoulders. "But when you have to
decide between your children's lives and the apartment, it
isn't very difficult," Abdullah said.
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