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IRAQ / FALLUJAH DISPLACED
STORY: IRAQ / FALLUJAH DISPLACED
TRT: 01:55
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 MAY 2016, AMERIYAT AL-FALLUJA, IRAQ , 31 MAY 2016, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
27 MAY 2016, AMERIYAT AL-FALLUJA, IRAQ
1. Wide shot, displaced at registration point
2. Med shot, people in line
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Layla, Displaced person:
“We lived in fear, extreme fear. We didn’t have money for bread. We haven’t baked bread in three months.”
4. Various shots, aid workers registering displaced
5. Various shots, Alahin and family
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Alahin, Displaced person:
“People started suffering when the routes were closed. I saw a woman who committed suicide. Someone set himself on fire. I swear to God and someone drowned his own children. A woman threw her children in the street and left because she didn’t have food.”
7. Med shot, aid workers registering displaced
8. Med shot, mother and child waiting by a truck
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR):
“Inside Falluja, we have dramatic reports of increase in the number of executions of men and older boys refusing to fight on behalf of ISIL. Other reports say that a number of people attempting to depart have been executed or whipped.”
10. Rack focus, aid supplies
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Melissa Fleming, Spokesperson, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR):
“In addition many people have reported to have been killed or buried under the rubble of their homes in the course of ongoing military operations. So we are saying it is absolutely essential that safe routes are opened that will allow the civilians in the city to access safety and lifesaving assistance.”
12. Wide shots, aid works distributing material
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said more than 800 people had fled Falluja on Friday as the Iraqi government continued its military offensive to retake control of the city from ISIL. UNHCR said dramatic reports of executions for those unwilling to fight for the group and people being buried in the rubble due to shelling were emerging from the city.
The Agency said the number of people who managed to escape was relatively small compared to the thousands of civilians still stuck in the crossfire. One of those was Layla who said her family survived on dates and yogurt for months.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Layla, Displaced person:
“We lived in fear, extreme fear. We didn’t have money for bread. We haven’t baked bread in three months.”
UNHCR and its partners began registering the displaced and distributing relief items to families. The city fell into the hand of the extremist group in January 2014 and has been under siege for months. Some of the stories emerging are harrowing.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Alahin, Displaced person:
“People started suffering when the routes were closed. I saw a woman who committed suicide. Someone set himself on fire. I swear to God and someone drowned his own children. A woman threw her children in the street and left because she didn’t have food.”
UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming said “it is absolutely essential that safe routes are opened that will allow the civilians in the city to access safety and lifesaving assistance.” The agency is building extra shelters in several camps ready to assist the newly-displaced families and is expecting more families to flee as the fighting goes on.
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