THE GULF WAR: The Battle Front : Refugees: Reduced Estimates

The number of refugees fleeing the Gulf conflict is dramatically lower than the flood predicted by the United Nations just a month ago, observers now report. Estimates that an initial 400,000 refugees would flee Iraq and Kuwait in the first three months and that an eventual 1 million to 2 million refugees would cross into neighboring states HAVE NOT MATERIALIZED, says Santiago Romero of the U.N. High Commission on Refugees. Romero cited the danger, expense, lack of fuel and bad weather as reasons for Iraqis not fleeing the war zone.