Jordan prepares for refugee influx

From RFE/RL Iraq Report Volume 6, Number 9
A 4 March report in "The Jordan Times" detailed Jordan's preparations for a possible deluge of refugees fleeing war in Iraq. Citing unnamed officials, the report said two camps are planned for Jordan's eastern border, along with a 100-bed mobile hospital. The Jordan Red Crescent and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would run the camps. An International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies official told the newspaper that the facilities' initial capacity of 5,000 people would later be expanded to 40,000 "in Jordan, Syria, or Iraq." A February UNHCR report predicted that a war could send as many as 600,000 refugees into Jordan, Turkey, and Iran for six months. (Daniel Kimmage)