ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations refugee agency on Wednesday praised Iraq for welcoming more than 500 Lebanese nationals daily, their travel eased by Baghdad’s recent introduction of favorable visa policies.
“We are seeing around 6,500 and above Lebanese who have come to Iraq since the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon… We are seeing 500 to 600 crossing the border every day,” Lilly Carlisle, Iraq spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Rudaw''s Mohammed Ezzadin.
She said that many of them have settled in Najaf and Karbala, south of Baghdad, where local authorities and religious institutions have provided accommodation in hotels and residential buildings. Others have sought refuge with family or friends.
“We are also seeing movements to other areas such as Nineveh to Salahadin and to Diyala,” she added.
Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq’s migration ministry, told Rudaw on Wednesday that more than 7,000 Lebanese nationals have sought refuge in Iraq.
Carlisle said that the Iraqi government is leading the response by enacting favorable visa policies that allow Lebanese nationals to cross the border and access services such as healthcare and education.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al Sudani’s government on September 28 announced a new policy to grant Lebanese citizens with a free 30-day visa upon arrival.
“At UNHCR we are very appreciative of this response… Our message is that as much as possible this inclusion should be the priority as people continue to cross the borders,” Carlisle said.
The UNHCR does not yet have any programs for the Lebanese refugees in Iraq, Carlisle said, "but we have deployed staff… to assess the situation."
She also noted the broader displacement crisis, with over a quarter of a million people fleeing to Syria.
"We are already seeing movements of Lebanese from Lebanon to Syria and then into Iraq," Carlisle said, adding that the UNHCR is tracking these movements to prepare for a potential worsening of the situation.
Sudani directed local authorities to refer to Lebanese people entering the country as a result of the conflict as “guests of Iraq,” instead of refugees.
Israel has targeted sites in Lebanon since its war with Hamas started a year ago, but it has recently escalated its ground operations and airstrikes. Since the conflict began, 1.2 million people, nearly a quarter of the Lebanese population, have been displaced, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said last week.
Lebanon is also hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees, in addition to 13,715 refugees of other nationalities, according to the UNHCR.
