AP: Syria Bars Iraq Refugees, Crisis Worsens

[Eugene]

Syria Bars Iraq Refugees, Crisis Worsens

By BASSEM MROUE
The Associated Press
Monday, February 12, 2007; 3:31 PM

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria, the last Arab country welcoming large numbers of Iraqi refugees,
is now all but closing the gates and leaving 40,000 Iraqis who flee their country each month
with almost no place to go.

The new rules _ imposed without any official announcement _ also strike fear of deportation
into the 1 million Iraqis already here. The worsening humanitarian crisis has resulted in calls
for action by members of the U.S. Congress and a plea from the United Nations for more
countries to help out.

-snip-

Syrian officials have said they will not deport Iraqis. And Syrian Interior Minister Bassam
Abdul-Majid said recently that the new measures were taken merely to organize the resident
permits of Iraqis and get an accurate count of refugees.

However, Syrian officials refuse to publicly confirm details of the new rules, and did not
respond to several calls for comment, nor to a list of questions, from The Associated Press.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021200788.html