Iraqi Refugees Feel Hounded By Syria Crackdown

By Roueida Mabardi
www.middle-east-online.com

February 3, 06

DAMASCUS -- Hussein, like hundreds of thousands of other Iraqis, fled to neighbouring Syria from the violence blighting daily life at home. But now that Damascus has tightened residency rules, he faces an uncertain future.

"If I go back I'm dead," Hussein said.

Until January 20, Iraqis were eligible for permits allowing them to stay in Syria for three months -- and then the permits could be renewed.

But no longer. Now the Syrian authorities will only provide "two-week permits that can be renewed just once and with certain documents, including a rental contract," according to Mohammed.

Like Hussein, he does not wish his last name to be made public. He did provide his full name, but then asked that it not be used.

"You know very well the conditions" of Iraqi refugees in Syria, he said.

More than 100 Iraqis whose permits to stay have expired or are about to gathered on Thursday outside the Damascus offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to ask for United Nations help.

On Friday UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres began a four-day trip to the Middle East to assess programmes for hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in the region.

Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan are on his itinerary. He will not visit Iraq itself because of timing and security considerations, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said.

Iraq lashed out on Friday at Syrian treatment of the refugees.

"Syria's attitude was hostile towards Iraqis in the way they dealt with the Iraqi issue," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in Baghdad.

"There are a huge number of Iraqi refugees in Syria owing to the abnormal situation in Iraq," he told state television Al-Iraqiya.

"They are there for a temporary period. But Syria imposed measures on residency which are very rare. By these measures they will put hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in a dire situation, and this is not a friendly attitude."

Dabbagh called the situation disastrous for Iraqis in Syria, and added: "There is anger among Iraqis over the Syrian attitude and there is anger from Iraq."

Several Iraqi protesters said they were planning a sit-in on Monday outside the UNHCR building in Damascus.

Some of them possess a UN document, valid for six months, that is supposed to preclude their expulsion from a host country because of their refugee status.

But "the Syrian security services just don't want to know," said Mohammed.

A year and a half ago, he fled Iraq's notorious "Triangle of Death" south of Baghdad after being threatened by militiamen. "My brother was murdered and my son was jailed. As soon as he got out, we came here," Mohammed said.

He now lives with his wife and four children at Sitt-Zeinab in southern Damascus, as do many other Iraqi refugees. The UNHCR estimates the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria at more than 600,000.

Only neighbouring Jordan hosts more Iraqi refugees than Syria, with more than 700,000, according to UNHCR figures. There are also at least 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran and up to 40,000 in Lebanon.

Hussein has a young son and doesn't know which way to turn. His Syrian permit expires in one day, and the idea of returning to Iraq is unthinkable.

The former aviator in the forces of the late dictator Saddam Hussein said there had been four attempts on his life in Iraq.

"So I fled. If I go back I'm dead. They killed my brother, and I'm number nine on the list (of an extremist Shiite militia)," Hussein said. "I was supposed to leave (Syria) a month ago."

He said the new Syrian measures came into force after Iraqi President Jalal Talabani came to Damascus in January. The landmark trip was the first such visit by an Iraqi head of state in three decades, and came after the two countries restored relations last November after a 26-year break.

The crackdown on refugee permits "is the fruit of an accord" made during Talabani's talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hussein claimed.

After their meeting last month, Assad joined Talabani in expressing a "readiness to work together and do everything possible to eradicate terrorism."

Ahmed al-Tay is another Iraqi refugee in Syria. He is a 25-year-old journalist and poet.

"I'm known in Iraq," he said. "I can't go back. My permit has expired and it won't be renewed. I need to find exile in whatever country I can."

All of the Iraqis cited the violence they had seen in their home country, saying "life there is no longer normal" amid the anarchy and widespread sectarian killings.

The United States has repeatedly accused Damascus of turning a blind eye to foreign fighters using Syria to enter Iraq and take part in a raging anti-US insurgency.

Syria says it has prevented thousands of fighters from entering Iraq, and its attempts to discuss cooperation to resolve the Iraqi security situation have been rebuffed by Washington.