UNITED NATIONS, March 9 (UPI) -- A U.N. team to assess the refugee stuation in southern iraq has returned for a second visit to Basra, the chief U.N. spokesman said Tuesday.
The spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said the team checked out security and overall conditions, met with colleagues and with partner agencies of the United Nations.
A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the agency took the lead at the request of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's acting special representative to Iraq, Ross Mountain.
A UNHCR spokesman in Geneva said, "They reported that Basra appears busier, in part due to the return of many Iraqis to the south." The spokesman, Ron Redmond, said, "If the flow of people is not regulated, economic hardship and social unrest will increase."
Redmond said while not verified, Iraq was reporting more than 122,000 refugees have returned to its nine southern governorates since last year.
The visit was only the second for the team since the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad was bombed by terrorists in August, killing 22 people.
