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During the Arab Spring, some of the Arab peoples decided to take a stand against their leaders as a result of many factors that accumulated over decades. These reactions and uprisings occurred from Tunisia in December 2010, followed by Egypt, Yemen and Libya, and originally started in peaceful civilian protests against their governments and some led to widespread violence and civil war. Likewise, in Syria, there is a continuation of these trends. In the Syrian context, however, the nature of the struggle against the regime and its leadership is complicated by the fact that the opposition is backed from abroad and exploited by Islamists, and the regime continues to act with full force against these fighters and its own citizens. Fighting and destruction continues to this day, prompting the Syrians to flee at home or resorting to flee to neighboring countries to escape the oppression and the effects of the fighting. Signs of the impending movements of Syrian asylum seekers to the Kurdistan Region started from March of 2011, and have continued day after day since then for these reasons and others. The total number of Syrian refugees registered within Iraq was most recently counted at 45,849 individuals (by 31 October 2012) and the vast majority (28,790 individuals) was registered in the Duhok governate of the Kurdistan region. Within the Kurdistan region, the majority of Syrian refugees reside in Duhok governate (28,790)- particularly within the Domiz camp with approximately 15,000 individuals registered by 24 October 2012 - while smaller numbers have also sought shelter within Erbil (6,857 individuals) and Sulaymaniyah (1,784 individuals). This places the total number of registered Syrians within the Kurdistan region at 37,431 (31 October 2012).
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