Iraq Grants Deadline for Foreign Workers to Rectify Situations
The Ministry of Interior has urged company owners and anyone housing foreign workers to legally rectify the status of violators following human rights criticisms. The Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Damascus announced the need to rectify the legal status of foreign workers from early July until September 7, following a report by Human Rights Watch criticizing Iraqi authorities for deporting Syrians, even those with official documents.
The Directorate of Residency Affairs, through a statement on its official Facebook page, called on business owners and those housing foreign workers to rectify the legal status of violators. This follows directives from Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shimari, supervised by General Nasr Ibrahim al-Khafaji.
Currently, Iraq hosts 284,861 registered Syrians with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Human Rights Watch stated that Baghdad and Erbil authorities arbitrarily detained and deported Syrians to Damascus and northeastern Syria under Autonomous Administration control, despite possessing official documents allowing them to stay and work or being registered asylum seekers with UNHCR.
The organization cited individuals arrested by Iraqi authorities on June 28, claiming they were detained during raids at their workplaces or on the streets.
Two Syrians arrested by Iraqi authorities said they were detained at immigration offices while attempting to renew their permits, without authorities considering their asylum requests. Furthermore, these decisions do not provide consistent avenues for appealing deportation orders against them.
The organization’s report also noted that Iraq is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.
UNHCR registers Syrian refugees in Iraq and issues them asylum seeker certificates for registration with the Refugee Affairs Committee under the Ministry of Interior, classifying them as “displaced from Syrian border areas accepted for humanitarian reasons.”
On the other hand, the Kurdistan Regional Government recognizes Syrians as asylum seekers, allowing them to receive humanitarian residence permits after registering with UNHCR.
In April, an NGO conducted interviews with seven deported Syrians, four holding valid Iraqi residence permits and three registered with UNHCR.
Baghdad launched a security campaign in March to track violators of residency conditions, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited an official source at the Arrivals and Passages Office in the Autonomous Administration, stating that Iraqi authorities had launched a campaign against Syrian residents, deporting them to areas and passages under Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria.
The source clarified that the office facilitated the arrival of dozens of Syrian families, giving them the choice to stay in northeastern Syria or secure a safe passage to other Syrian areas, whether under regime control or areas controlled by pro-Ankara military factions.
However, the source denied reports by local media regarding the deportation of Syrian families from al-Hasakah and al-Qamishli, explaining that there was nothing new about the arrival of Syrian residents from all Syrian regions in northeastern Syria due to job opportunities, basic services, and humanitarian organizations operating there.
According to the Syrian Observatory, the Autonomous Administration issued an arrival card for Syrians displaced outside its areas since 2017. The card allows these families to remain in their original areas, without distinction or discrimination from local residents of those areas.
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The Northeast Syria Kurdistan Information Directorate issued a public statement confirming the first arrival of a group deported by the Iraqi state under a decision to deport Syrians seeking refuge in Iraq.
