GENEVA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday urged host countries not to deport rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers, saying they faced targeted killings and worsening bloodshed in their homeland. Sectarian violence is expected to increase in Iraq ahead of voting scheduled this year to determine the status of disputed areas, including oil-rich city of Kirkuk in the north, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned. "No Iraqi from southern or central Iraq should be forcibly returned to Iraq until such time as there is substantial improvement in the security and human rights situation in the country," the UNHCR said. While the three northern Kurdish-run provinces were the most stable and secure area of Iraq, Sunni Arabs or Shi'ites face "threats of persecution or security risks" if sent there. "UNHCR, in particular, advises against returns to the three northern governorates of persons not originating from there," it said in its first advisory to governments since September 2005. Iraqis topped the list of some 40 nationalities filing for asylum in Europe in the first half of 2006. The UNHCR had no information on any Iraqis being sent back. "There's quite a debate in some of the Nordic countries about Iraqi asylum-seekers, this is why we issue our guidelines and advisories, just to let governments know exactly what the situation is like in their country of origin," UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva. The security situation in Iraq -- where more than 20,000 people were reported killed in 2006 -- had deteriorated since its previous advisory 16 months ago. "Today's security situation is marked by extreme violence in central Iraq and significant instability in the south of the country," Pagonis said. Individuals with certain profiles are being targeted by "terrorist groups" and militias on a daily basis through intimidation and acts of terror aimed at uprooting them on ethnic, religious and political grounds, the UNHCR said. "Overall, the situation could be characterised as one of generalised violence and one in which massive targeted violations of human rights are prevalent," it said. Nearly 500,000 Iraqis fled their homes in 2006 taking the number of those displaced within the country to some 1.7 million. The number of internal refugees could rise to between 2.3 million to 2.7 million by year-end, according to the UNHCR. Another 1.8 million Iraqis have fled abroad, mainly to neighbouring Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt.
