Hundreds of Refugees Pour Out of Iraq : Gulf War: Many crossing into Jordan after being trapped in the desert tell horror stories about life in Kuwait.
RUWEISHED, Jordan — Hundreds of refugees from the Persian Gulf War streamed out of blitzed Iraq today, saying civilians are struggling to exist amid incessant allied bombing and telling horror stories of living conditions in Kuwait.
The refugees, trapped in freezing mid-winter desert country since Baghdad virtually shut the frontier at midnight Jan. 22, left behind thousands of displaced people huddled around fires and trying to escape rain and snowstorms in makeshift huts.
Many who crossed from Treibeel, near the Jordanian border, said five people had died there, among them a woman in childbirth and an 18-month-old infant.
They said life in Iraqi-held Kuwait was “unbearable†and reported worsening conditions in Iraq, with essential goods and services running down after around-the-clock bombardment.
“I told them, ‘ Haram (have pity), we are Muslims, why are you doing this to us?’ †said Khairiyah Salman, who had begged the Iraqis to let her cross to Jordan after her son fell and hit his head.
“It was so cold,†said Salman. “God bless King Hussein and the Red Cross, they brought us food and blankets.â€
Travelers from Kuwait arrived in hundreds of dust-swept cars, crammed with children, mattresses, cooking pots and gasoline canisters.
One refugee said she kissed the ground in joy when her family crossed into Jordan after Iraq re opened its western border on the 12th day of the Gulf War.
“In Baghdad, there was no food, no power, no gas, no TV and no telephones,†said A. K. Nayak, an Indian construction worker who traveled from the southern city of Basra.
He said he and others with him, held at the Iraqi border until today although they had exit visas, had worked on a presidential palace in Basra for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein until war erupted Jan. 17.
Jordanians fleeing Kuwait said life had become unbearable in the emirate after Iraq’s invasion.
“Everyone in Kuwait now lives underground,†said Abdul-Aziz Faris, who squeezed 11 people into a van and left five days after the war began.
Faris, a history teacher, said it took him two days to find gasoline in Kuwait. “I was there for 26 years, I had friends and relatives, but life was getting too hard,†he said.
“We came back because there is nothing in Kuwait,†Salman said. “There is no bread, no flour, no milk.â€
Others said people in Kuwait had stockpiled food but it had disappeared from shops. Some travelers said a dozen eggs were selling for up to the equivalent of $150.
Up to 5,000 men, women and children fled air attacks on Iraq and Kuwait last week only to find themselves stranded 44 miles from Jordan’s Ruweished border post.
First allowed across were Jordanians, apparently exempted from having to go back to Baghdad to get travel clearance, and a small number of foreigners with exit visas.
Travelers said two refugees who had tried to reach Baghdad Sunday returned because the highway was cracked and pitted with bomb craters.
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