Autonomous Administration allows residents in Iraq to postpone conscription

Co-chair of Defense Bureau in the Autonomous Administration Zeidan al-Assi

North-Press Agency

 

The Defense Bureau of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria confirmed that residents in Iraq who are eligible for conscription can come to the Autonomous Administration areas if they pay their annual postponement fee.

Previously, every conscription-eligible male entering from Iraqi territories to the areas of the Autonomous Administration would be obligated to fulfil their military service, as opposed to those coming from European countries, which would be allowed to enter northeastern Syria providing they paid the annual postponement fee.

 

On his personal Facebook page, Defense Bureau co-chair in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Zeidan al-Assi stated that as a goodwill gesture, the Autonomous Administration removed the name of Iraq from the list of countries from which northeastern Syria’s citizens are required to serve in the self-defense forces, stating that they are allowed to come to the areas of the Autonomous Administration.

Al-Assi pointed out that Article 26 of the Self-Defense Duty Law excluded residents of the countries of Turkey and Iraq from coming to the areas of the Autonomous Administration and paying the annual postponement fee of $400 per year.

 

In response to commentators' inquiries, al-Assi explained that any conscription-eligible man residing in Kurdistan Region of Iraq can visit the Autonomous Administration areas through regular border crossings, stressing that he will be given 30 days to visit defense offices at his arrival destination to obtain a military permit after paying a postponement fee of $400. This will allow his service to be postponed for a full year.

Tens of thousands of displaced people from northeastern Syria have been living in Kurdistan Region since 2012, thousands of which are eligible for conscription.

In January, the Autonomous Administration solidified the ages of those eligible for conscription in all its areas, so that the new mandatory age starts from those born on and after January 1, 1990.