BAGHDAD, March 31 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency is to boost its presence in Iraq to help deal with the estimated 50,000 people who flee their homes every month, agency head Antonio Guterres said on Saturday.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates up to 2 million Iraqis have moved to neighbouring countries before and since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, while 1.7 million Iraqis are internally displaced.

"We are going to establish an international presence in Baghdad and increase the activities of our seven offices in the country," Guterres told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several government ministers in Baghdad.

Some 712,000 Iraqis have been homeless since the February 2006 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra that sparked a wave of sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands.

"We want to help them in preparation for the moment for them to go back to their communities," Guterres said.

On a visit earlier this month, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was considering increasing the U.N.'s presence in Iraq on the basis of what he called improved security. His trip was marred by a rocket attack that left him unhurt but visibly shaken.

The U.N. mission was virtually shut down after a truck bomb attack on its compound killed special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and more than 20 others in August 2003, but there are now 65 international staff and about 130 Iraqis working there.

The UNHCR will hold a conference in Geneva from April 17-18 to seek more aid from international donors for Iraq's refugees.

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