Vatican City (Fides Service) - UNHCR continued to prepare camp sites, transport relief supplies to the region and monitor possible border crossing points throughout the Iraq region over the weekend. No large-scale influx of refugees has been seen so far into any of the neighbouring countries, and border areas are reportedly calm. UNHCR has some 200 staff in the region and emergency teams are on standby for deployment from around the world.
The situation at Jordan's Al Karama border remains quiet. UNHCR staff continually check the frontier, chasing-up rumours of new population movements. There have been no refugee arrivals. UNHCR now has eight staff based at the Ruwaished camp and the Al Karama border crossing. Late Saturday, 25 Somalis studying at the universities of Mosul and Baghdad were allowed into Jordan and are currently sheltered at IOM's third country nationals (TCN) camp. Twenty-four individuals (two families and two single men) are waiting for their cases to be resolved at the holding centre on the border. The Jordanian Red Crescent has erected 10 tents at the border, and UNHCR has delivered ten additional tents, as well as food, blankets and stoves. UNHCR legal officers are working with the Jordanian authorities to resolve their status. The Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organisation/UNHCR camp at Ruwaished, some 60 kilometres west of the Iraqi border, can now accommodate up to 2,000 refugees. So far, 200 tents have been erected and workers have installed 80 flush latrines. The camp's water system, worked on by UNHCR's partner OXFAM, should be ready today, including showers. The main water tank has been installed and work is progressing at a good pace. Earthworks are also underway for latrines. Five metric tonnes of high energy biscuits and 1,000 ready-to-eat rations supplied by German Agro Action are in stock, and WFP food rations are available on request.

In Iran: two international staff from Tehran travelled from the capital Saturday to strengthen UNHCR's existing office at Orumiyeh, in north-western Iran. In all, UNHCR has sent nine additional staff to its three offices in western Iran to monitor borders and the construction of four of the Iranian government's ten planned refugee camps. UNHCR released $1 million on Thursday to prepare the four camp sites along the Iranian frontier with Iraq. The funds released to the Iranian refugee agency BAFIA are for expenses for preparatory work on the identified camp sites, including clearing land mines, constructing access roads and building water and sanitation facilities. Each of the four camp sites along the border inside south-western Iran will have a capacity for 15,000 refugees and can be expanded as the need arises. Ground levelling and de-mining have also been done on six other camp sites along the Iranian border.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers urgently appealed to all governments neighbouring Iraq to keep their borders open to those in need of temporary protection and assistance. He also called for unrestricted access to all border areas by UNHCR emergency staff so they can monitor arrivals from Iraq and ensure that the rights of refugees are respected. Access is also needed to enable UNHCR staff to assist host nations in coping with the crisis. "Despite all of the UN's efforts to find a peaceful solution, we are now faced with the sad reality of war in Iraq and more suffering for the Iraqi people," Lubbers said in a statement. "We must do everything we can to alleviate that suffering, including keeping borders open so that those fearing for their lives can reach safety in neighbouring states." SL (Fides Service 27/3/2003 EM lines 48 Words: 609)