"Medecines Sans Frontieres" Studies the Possibility of Rendering Assistance to Iraqi Refugees

A group of representatives of the "Medecins Sans Frontieres" international organisation visited hospitals in the Iranian town of Kasre-Shirin, the Kermanshah province, on the border with Iraq. The main aim of the visit was to examine the possibility for the town's medical institutions to accommodate potential refugees from Iraq. The length of the western Kermanshah province's border with Iraq is 183 km.

At the present time no concentration of refugees in the border territories is reported.

Nevertheless, according to the data provided by the Red Cross, a humanitarian disaster has been developing in the southern Iraqi city of Basra after massive US and British bombings. Hospitals are overcrowded with the wounded people who die because of the lack of the necessary medicines, medical equipment, water and electric power.

The situation is being aggravated by weather conditions - strong wind and sandstorms.