More than those who protested in Dublin on Feb 15 2003
BAGHDAD, 4 Jun 2006 (IRIN)
Nearly 180,000 Iraqis have now been displaced due to ongoing sectarian violence, an increase of about 80,000 from previous figures, said government officials.
According to Mowafaq Abdul-Raof, a spokesman for the Ministry of Displacement and Migration, more than 17,000 families are now registered as homeless by the ministry. An additional 5,000, Abdul-Raof added, had found refuge with relatives in less effected areas.
The largest number of displaced families is from Baghdad, at about 3,718. Of these, an estimated 1,500 have relocated to Samawa; 1,091 to al-Amara; 966 to al-Qut; 713 to Basra; 765 to Nassiriya; and 300 to Ramadi. According to ministry figures, a further 2,113 families have relocated from Falluja and Samarra to Kerbala. Baqouba, a mixed city some 60km northeast of Baghdad, has received the largest influx of displaced families from various locations, at 12,528. Tikrit has also received 117 displaced families, Kirkuk 190 and Mosul 44.
Sectarian hostility erupted in earnest following a 22 February attack on a revered Shi'ite shrine in Samarra....
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53696
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/2f1813c7a...c.htm