At least 250 Syrians flee to Turkey

At least 250 Syrians flee to Turkey

2011-05-01 03:49:16 GMT+7 (ICT)

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BNO NEWS) -- About 250 people fled from conflict-ridden Syria to Turkey, government officials said Saturday.

CNN reported that most of the people, who hustled to the southern Turkish Yaylidagi district in Hatay province, are ethnic Turkmens, and three of them speak Turkish. A local official said they are mainly from Qamishli, in the northeastern region, and Latakia, on the western coast.

"The group is mostly young, there are women and children among them," the official said. "They are in good health condition. There are no health problems."

The people claim that they've been persecuted by the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said the government is trying to determine more about the people and why they left Syria.

"They just came to the border post and want to go in without passports. They were let in," Unal said. "We are trying to figure out whether this is an individual event or the tip of the iceberg."

The military, the local government and the Red Crescent Aid Society are assisting the refugees with tents, food, and other aid materials.

Meanwhile, the crackdown on protesters continued in the restive Syrian city of Daraa on Saturday, a day after 19 people, including four soldiers, were reported killed and more than 50 others wounded.

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday voted for sending a mission to the Middle East country to investigate the reported violations of international law after hundreds of people have been killed during weeks of unrest.

Kyung-wha Kang, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that over 450 people have reportedly been killed and three times that number injured due to the widespread use of live fire ammunition against protesters.

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