Syria’s civil and sub-state wars have pushed into surrounding states an essentially stateless refugee cohort numbering between 1.7 and 1.9 million.  The figure does not include internally displaced Syrians, and I’m not sure that it should note, the state of the dispossessed and homeless from war seeming to be about the same on one side of a desert, field, mountain, or rive as the other.

In addition to the Assad vs. FSA civil war, the al-Nusra presence has produced its own atmosphere and dynamics and today most tellingly with its brutality, including possibly the beheading of children, effectively mobilizing both Kurdish flight in massive numbers of Iraq-bound refugees and Kurdish fight in the form of community militia.

While the refugee theme holds sway today,

Rebels killed 200 people, mostly civilians, and drove hundreds from their villages in the first three days of the assault, activists said. They also shot down a military jet, according to amateur video footage released on Sunday.

Evans, Dominic.  “Assad’s forces push back rebels in Syria’s Alawite mountains.” Reuters, August 19, 2013.

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“It looks like the total from last Thursday to now is somewhere in the region of 20,000 or more coming across,” Adrian Edwards of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. “If not the biggest influx across the border at a single time then it is among the largest in the whole Syria crisis.”

Reuters.  “More than 20,000 Syrian refugees cross into Iraq: U.N.”  August 19, 2013.

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“There are bodies without heads at the morgue today. Why? Which international norms and which doctrine can justify their death? They are cutting off heads. Heads of children are being cut off,” said Faris Sulaiman, a refugee who fled from Qamishli in northeast Syria.

al-Salhy, Suadad and Murad Talaat.  “Syrian Kurd exodus to Iraq raises prospect of cross-border action.”  Reuters, August 19, 2013.

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They are not fleeing clashes between government forces and rebels, but are running away from a spinoff conflict: the raging battle between Kurdish militiamen and Islamist Arab rebels for control of large swaths of northern Syria, home to most of Syria’s Kurdish minority.

McDonnell, Patrick J.  “Syrian refugees flee amid clashes between Kurds and Islamist rebels.”  Los Angeles Times, August 19, 2013.

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For their entire lives, Rania and Yusuf were Palestinian refugees in Syria. Now they are Syrian Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Rania and her family (for security reasons, none wanted their full names used) are among more 90,000 Syrian Palestinians who have fled to neighboring Lebanon, often staying with relatives who live in the two dozen formal Palestinian camps, all already notoriously overcrowded and lacking in services.

Taylor, Stephanie d’Arc.  “Syrian Palestinians pack Lebanon refugee camp.”  Los Angeles Times, August 19, 2013.

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The U.N. said the reason for this flow, which began five days ago and continued unabated Monday, is unclear. But Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria have been engulfed by fighting in recent months between Kurdish militias and Islamic extremist rebel factions with links to al-Qaida. Dozens have been killed.

AP.  “Thousands of Syrian refugees pour into Kurdsih region of Iraq; aid workers struggle to keep up.”  The Washington Post, August 19, 2013.

“Having said all that, the issue remains very sensitive, because we do not want Western Kurdistan to be emptied of its Kurdish residents, and our people there must stay and defend their land [and] try to attain their legitimate rights,” he added.”

Shekhani, Sherzad.  “Barzani calls on Syria Kurds to stay and fight.”  Asharq Al-Awsat.”  August 19, 2013.

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