VICTORIA, British Columbia, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Ten percent of Iraq’s population has been turned into refugees, almost half in their own country, a direct result of the U.S.-led invasion and subsequent occupation of the country in March 2003, creating the second-largest refugee problem in the Middle East.

Only the Palestinian refugee crisis, with close to 5 million displaced Palestinians scattered around the Middle East and beyond, tops the Iraqi refugee crisis.

But these numbers might change very suddenly, catapulting the Iraqi refugee crisis to the top of the list.

Threats of potential incursions into northern Iraq by the Turkish military in hot pursuit of members of the PKK, the Kurdish Workers Party, may yet create a new wave of Iraqi refugees.

This time the bulk of the refugees fleeing will be from Kurdish-controlled areas, which until now have enjoyed relative calm and prosperity.