Second batch of Palestinian refugees fleeing Iraq violence fly to Chile

By DAMASCUS, SYRIA
A second batch of Palestinian refugees from a total of 735 stranded on the Iraq-Syria border since 2006 have flown to Chile under a resettlement plan sponsored by the Catholic church in Chile and the UN Agency for refugees. Chile has agreed to host a total of 117 of the refugees. The 37 who left Sunday included 17 children. A third and final group will leave at the end of this month. The refugees have fled the violence in Iraq but were denied entry by Syria, leaving them stranded at a desert camp close to the border. Syria already is home to an estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees and about 500,000 Palestinians.