Monday, March 05, 2007
Jordanians will only accept new series of Iraqi passports
(RFE/RL) Jordan has announced that only Iraqis carrying the new series G passports will be allowed to enter the country, international media reported on March 1. Iraq's series 'S' passports, issued after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, can be easily forged. The new passports, printed in Germany, contain several security enhancements, such as iris scans, which cannot be forged, the Amman-based "Al-Arab al-Yawm" reported. Meanwhile, Iraqi citizens from different areas of the country have reported difficulty in obtaining the new passports.
A Baghdad resident who fled to Jordan told the UN humanitarian news website IRIN that he paid a $2,000 bribe at the Foreign Ministry in Baghdad to obtain his series G passport. Jordan has also placed restrictions on Iraqi refugees entering the Hashemite kingdom, saying they must be over age 40 or under age 20, and must prove they have sufficient funds to support themselves while staying in the kingdom -- and they must hold a series G passport, according to IRIN.
Jordan's Interior Ministry also announced it will no longer renew residency permits for Iraqis holding series S passports. An Iraqi Embassy official in Jordan said the Foreign Ministry plans to begin providing the new passports on March 10, but only 10 passports a week will be issued. There are some 700,000 Iraqis estimated to be living in Jordan. "We tried to persuade Jordanian officials to delay the implementation of the law until we can renew all the passports of Iraqis, but they refused," the unidentified embassy official told IRIN.
Labels: Jordan, series G passports, series S passports
