Monday, September 03, 2007

 

Syria to require visas for Iraqis

Region
(AP) -- Syria, home to as many as 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, has decided to require visas for Iraqis entering the country for economic, trade and educational purposes, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The new rules take effect Sept. 10, the ministry said in a statement on its Web site. Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was informed about the Syrian decision by his counterpart Walid Moallem in a telephone conversation Thursday, the ministry said.
Syria's move is seen as an attempt by the Arab state to reduce the flow of more than 30,000 Iraqi refugees every month. Syria is one of the easiest countries for Iraqis to visit because they can stay up to six months then simply leave any border crossing and enter the same day to start a new six months. It was unclear how the rules would affect Iraqis who try to enter Syria simply to take refuge.
Syria and Jordan host the largest number of the more than 2 million displaced Iraqis and both governments complain of the increasing burdens on their health and education infrastructures. Jordan has made it more difficult to Iraqis to enter in the past to try reduce the flow.
During a visit to Syria earlier this month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pledged to help Syria on the increasing flow of refugees from Iraq - about 1.5 million are living in Syria, mostly in the capital, Damascus, and the suburbs. The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Thursday praised Syria and Jordan for taking in fleeing Iraqis and urged the international community to show its solidarity by providing more direct, bilateral support.

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