BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expanded its aid to the humanitarian needs of increasing numbers of Syrian refugees in northern Iraq, according to a UNHCR statement.
More than 12,000 Syrian refugees have sought shelter in neighboring Iraq since the latest influx began a fortnight ago, the statement quoted UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic as saying on Tuesday at a press briefing in Geneva.
According to the statement, the number of refugees at the recently opened Bardarash Camp has exceeded 11,000 and more than 800 are sheltered at Gawilan transit site. Both sites are about 150 km east of the Syrian-Iraqi border.
UNHCR and the local Kurdish authorities are working on reuniting refugees from the camp with their family members residing in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the statement said.
The UNHCR efforts came as Turkish forces and its Syrian allies continued their military operations against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey sees as a terrorist group for its links to the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The Turkish offensive prompted an exodus of tens of thousands of Kurds in several parts of northeastern Syria.
