IRAQ: Iraqis return home after fleeing violence in Syria

Record ID: 281074

  • Title: IRAQ: Iraqis return home after fleeing violence in Syria
  • Date: 21st July 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) IRAQI CITIZEN, ABU JAMMAL, SAYING: "They (Syrian) government delayed us at the borders because we do not have exit visas on our passports. They told us we should get it in order to leave. Situation is very difficult. There are no cars to take us, no water, shops are closed and we do not have bread." IRAQI REFUGEES RETURNING FROM SYRIA SITTING IN BUS
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5M1OU0Q7P97ZVGEM5EI439U9U
  • Story Text: Buses carrying Iraqi refugees fleeing violence in the neighbouring Syria crossed into Iraq on Sunday (July 21), coming through al-Waleed border gate.
    Buses packed with hundreds of Iraqis including women and children crossed into Iraq through al-Waleed gate which is still controlled by Syrian government border authorities.
    Iraqi refugees spoke of a difficult humanitarian situation in Syria, and gave account of hardships when crossing the Syrian border.
    "They (Syrian) government delayed us at the borders because we do not have exit visas on our passports. They told us we should get it in order to leave. Situation is very difficult. There are no cars to take us, no water, shops are closed and we do not have bread," said Iraqi citizen Abu Jammal sitting in a bus driving into Iraq.
    "Immigration and passports department is closed because of the bombing by planes and rockets. There were no employees in it and the (Iraqi) families are stuck at border. We called the Iraqi embassy and the Iraqi government, but no one answered. Iraqis are being killed in bombs and explosions in Al-Sayeda (district). They (Syrian government) did not let Iraqis to leave. We including old people and families most of them fasting begged them and kissed their hands to allow them to leave. No Iraqi official has come here or contacted us," said another Iraqi returnee Adnan.
    Iraqi officials at the gate said they were offering all the possible help to ensure smooth flow of Iraqi refugees back home.
    "We have received a large number of returning refugees following recent events in Syria. Last Thursday we received more than 3,000 people fleeing violence in Garamana and Sayeda Zainab, a matter which slowed work at the border gate, but we managed to gain control and we transported returnees from the border gate to Baghdad by vehicles of the Ministry of Transport," said head of Al-Waleed district Abdul Munim Khalaf.
    Last week Iraq called on tens of thousands of its citizens living in Syria to return home as violence in Damascus escalated.
    The Iraqi Red Crescent said 2,285 Iraqis who had fled Syria had registered for repatriation in the past two days after passing through the northern al-Waleed border crossing, according to Iraqi media.
    The security situation in Iraq is still perilous despite an easing in sectarian violence which killed tens of thousands in 2006-2007.
    Tens of thousands of Iraqis left the country for Syria during the post-war violence, but many have returned since the start of the Syrian uprising.
    Syrian rebels seized control of sections of Syria's international borders on Thursday after the assassination of three of Assad's closest lieutenants in Damascus.
    The rebels said on Thursday they had seized control of at least two border crossings into Turkey at Bab al-Hawa and Jarablus, in what appeared to have been a coordinated campaign to seize Syria's frontiers.
    Northern Iraqi border crossing in Rabia, 100 km (62 miles) west of the Iraqi city of Mosul was still in the hands of government forces. The Syrian flag fluttered above the border crossing and a huge mural of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was on display.
    Other crossings with Iraq and Turkey have fallen in the hands of the rebels, the first time they have held sway over Syria's frontiers.
    On Thursday, the rebels claimed control of the Abu Kamal crossing with Iraq - one of the most important trade routes in the Middle East and the main border post on the Baghdad-Damascus highway - and of the crossings at Jarablus and Bab al-Hawa at the border with Turkey.
    With the rebels making gains in the fighting, some Iraqi officials were reported as saying that the rebels had captured all four border posts with Iraq, while others said only Abu Kamal had fallen.
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