ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Authorities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have unlawfully arrested and deported Syrian refugees, alleged an international watchdog.
“Iraq should immediately end its distressing campaign of arbitrary arrests and deportations of Syrians who have fled to Iraq for safety,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a report published on Thursday.
According to the report, the deported refugees had official Iraqi documents or were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as asylum seekers, enabling them to stay and work in Iraq. HRW did not estimate the number of people who have been deported.
Last August, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council prohibited the deportation of Syrian refugees.
However, in March, Iraqi authorities initiated a crackdown on foreigners violating residency regulations. This led to the detention and deportation of numerous Syrians following raids on their residences and workplaces.
The HRW has not received a response from Iraq’s interior ministry regarding their requests for comments, annd the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) office that responds to international reports did not immediately respond to the HRW report.
“The Iraqi government should immediately halt its campaign of arbitrary arrests, detention, and deportations of Syrian asylum seekers. Iraqi authorities should establish a workable system for determining refugee status in line with international standards,” said the human rights organization.
Iraq is hosting an estimated 280,000 Syrian refugees, who were displaced because of the Syrian conflict, with more than 240,000 residing in the Kurdistan Region.
“While parts of Syria have not had active conflict hostilities since 2018, Syria remains unfit for safe and dignified refugee returns. Deporting asylum seekers breaches Iraq’s obligations as a party to the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT),” the HRW report stated.
A report in March by the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry warned that Syria has witnessed a large escalation in fighting in the last four years.
Upon returning to Syria, those who fled the country following the onset of the deadly civil war face a myriad of abuses from regime authorities and various armed groups.
Syrians rose up against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, leading to a full-scale civil war that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and has left millions more in need of dire humanitarian assistance.
Over 13 million Syrians, half the country’s pre-war population, have been displaced since the start of the civil war, more than 6 million of which are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to UN figures.
