"The Iraqi government is taking responsibility for receiving and hosting Lebanese fleeing to Iraq, including providing access to national services such as health and education," Lilly Carlisle, Iraq spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Of the more than 6,500 Lebanese individuals who have recently arrived in Iraq, Carlisle noted, they are entering through different places like the Iraq-Syria al-Qaim border crossing, as well as through the airports in Baghdad and Najaf.
The UNHCR spokesperson said that many displaced persons have settled in Najaf and Karbala - accommodated in hotels and residential buildings designated by local authorities or the Holy Shrines in the two cities - while others have sheltered with family or friends.
“At this stage, UNHCR is primarily focused on gathering information about the new arrivals to better grasp the situation,” Carlisle added, detailing that information is ”received through government sources” and triangulated through UNHCR staff and “partners on the ground.”
"UNHCR is coordinating closely with the broader UN network in Iraq, alongside our partners,” Carlisle said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al Sudani’s government on September 28 announced expedited visa policies allowing Lebanese citizens to be granted free 30-day visas upon arrival.
Miqdad Miri, Iraq's interior ministry spokesperson, said on Saturday that the country received more than 5,500 Lebanese refugees since Israel’s most recent escalation in attacks on southern Lebanon.
Israel 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 on Wednesday.
Lebanon is also hosting 1.5 million Syrian refugees, in addition to 13,715 refugees of other nationalities, according to the UNHCR.
Bano Abdulrahman contributed to this report.
