Saudi Arabia has stressed that Iraqi refugees in the Rafha camp [in Northern Borders Province] are treated well, and denied allegations of rioting, detention of refugees, or incidents of beating, insults or torture. A government official commented that a statement issued in London on Sunday by the 'Committee for Support of Rafha Refugees' is "a mere fabrication and falsification by hostile people who live far from the camp."

He added that although the Iraqi refugees who are currently on hunger strike to protest the ending of the resettlement program to other countries by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) are refusing to receive food, the Saudi authorities are continuing to provide food for them whether they accept it or not. The Ministry of Defense and Aviation supervises the camp, but it is the UNHCR, not the Kingdom, that is in charge of resettlement demands by the remaining 5,000 refugees.

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