Flight from Iraq gets harder as neighbours clamp down
Saturday, 8 September 2007
Judging by the statements from the Baghdad government, you would think Iraq was getting safer. Yet a look at the dramatically-increasing flow of refugees from the country shows that most Iraqis agree with the findings of International Crisis Group experts who established in August that Iraq's security situation had deteriorated further.
At the same time, it is getting even more difficult to escape Iraq as some of its neighbouring countries have started to make their entry requirements more stringent.
From next Monday Iraqis wishing to enter Syria require a three- month visa from the Syrian embassy in Baghdad, although it is still unclear how strictly these regulations will be enforced.
The Jordanian government is currently discussing the introduction of a visa requirement for Iraqis.
Of a total of around 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime four-and-a-half years ago, 1.5 million have been received by Syria with Jordan taking 750,000.
While Shiites tend to flee to Iran, there are 150,000 Iraqis living in Egypt. In Istanbul every fourth person applying for a residence permit is Iraqi.
The Iraqi government dominated by Shiite and Kurd religious parties is not really willing to seek a solution to the refugee problem.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared recently that Baghdad was not willing to help financially with neighbouring countries' efforts to look after refugees as it was not considered right to encourage Iraqis to flee.
In the view of Baghdad politics professor Hassan al-Bassas, who left with his family for the Jordanian capital last year, this is the purest hypocrisy.
"There is no proper government in Iraq that can protect the people. The Kurdish regions in the North are relatively secure, but someone from Baghdad can settle there only if they fulfil certain criteria," he says.
Al-Bassas, who describes himself as a national list supporter, has met many of his acquaintances again in Baghdad who are now working in Amman as doctors and professors.
"In Baghdad, the Green Zone (where the US embassy and the Iraqi government are located) is so dangerous that it should be renamed the Red Zone," he says.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees(UNHCR)has challenged the international community to assist the countries in the region with the Iraqi refugee crisis.
Meanwhile, President George W Bush and his advisers are still hoping that the exodus from Iraq can be halted with military operations against extremists and political pressure on the al-Maliki government.
In August, the US accepted 530 Iraqis and in July just 57 Iraqi refugees found refuge in the US. At the Syria border, every day there are 1,000 Iraqis seeking a safe haven.
— EARTHtimes.org
At the same time, it is getting even more difficult to escape Iraq as some of its neighbouring countries have started to make their entry requirements more stringent.
From next Monday Iraqis wishing to enter Syria require a three- month visa from the Syrian embassy in Baghdad, although it is still unclear how strictly these regulations will be enforced.
The Jordanian government is currently discussing the introduction of a visa requirement for Iraqis.
Of a total of around 2.2 million Iraqis who have fled the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime four-and-a-half years ago, 1.5 million have been received by Syria with Jordan taking 750,000.
While Shiites tend to flee to Iran, there are 150,000 Iraqis living in Egypt. In Istanbul every fourth person applying for a residence permit is Iraqi.
The Iraqi government dominated by Shiite and Kurd religious parties is not really willing to seek a solution to the refugee problem.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared recently that Baghdad was not willing to help financially with neighbouring countries' efforts to look after refugees as it was not considered right to encourage Iraqis to flee.
In the view of Baghdad politics professor Hassan al-Bassas, who left with his family for the Jordanian capital last year, this is the purest hypocrisy.
"There is no proper government in Iraq that can protect the people. The Kurdish regions in the North are relatively secure, but someone from Baghdad can settle there only if they fulfil certain criteria," he says.
Al-Bassas, who describes himself as a national list supporter, has met many of his acquaintances again in Baghdad who are now working in Amman as doctors and professors.
"In Baghdad, the Green Zone (where the US embassy and the Iraqi government are located) is so dangerous that it should be renamed the Red Zone," he says.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees(UNHCR)has challenged the international community to assist the countries in the region with the Iraqi refugee crisis.
Meanwhile, President George W Bush and his advisers are still hoping that the exodus from Iraq can be halted with military operations against extremists and political pressure on the al-Maliki government.
In August, the US accepted 530 Iraqis and in July just 57 Iraqi refugees found refuge in the US. At the Syria border, every day there are 1,000 Iraqis seeking a safe haven.
— EARTHtimes.org