Four Syrians arrested in Damascus upon deportation from Iraq

ERBIL, KRI, Iraq (North Press) – Rashid Ali Jan, director of the Erbil-based Jain Roj Charity Organization, said that the last three days witnessed the deportation of 13 refugees from the International Baghdad Airport to Syria. Upon arrival, four of them were by Syrian government security authorities in Damascus.

Dozens of Syrian refugees who have permanent residencies issued from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG) and documents from UNHCR in Erbil are detained in Baghdad prisons with the aim of deporting them to Syria.

On Tuesday, the head of the charity said that some families of Syrians who are detained in Baghdad have been in contact with him for assistance in reuniting with their relatives in Erbil.

The source also added that the remaining nine young men were permitted to leave from Damascus International Airport to Qamishli city, where they remain at present.

Jan also said that the families of the nine deportees who recently landed in Qamishli are still in Erbil waiting their sons to reach them.

Residency permits issued by the KRG are considered illegal by the Iraqi government and do not entitle their holders to enter Iraq. Only documents issued by the Iraqi government in Baghdad are recognized as valid to stay in Iraq.

When the war broke out in Syria in 2011, many families fled across the border to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). However, as living conditions in the KRI became increasingly difficult, they were forced to move to Baghdad illegally because they could not afford the fees for a legal residency in Iraq, which cost between $1200 and $1700.