The Iraqi authorities forcibly deport Syrian refugees and hand them over to the Syrian regime

ARK News… Kurdistan media sources revealed that during the past few days, Iraqi security forces detained a number of Syrian refugees and deported some of them to Damascus. They also withdrew the identity papers of others, including women and children, in order to deport them.

According to the Bass News website, during the recent period, Iraqi security personnel detained many young men, and about 10 of them were deported, and they informed the others that they would be deported via Baghdad Airport to their country, “Syria.”

The media source added that Iraqi security forces withdrew the identity papers and passports of a number of others, including women and children, in order to force them to be forcibly deported.

The Syrian refugees appealed to the Iraqi security authorities to stop the campaign of forced deportation to Syria, despite the fact that they possess official Iraqi documents that enable them to stay and work, and they are also registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Iraq, stressing that returning them to Damascus through Baghdad airport is tantamount to execution for them. They will be handed over to the Assad regime.

For its part, the Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed website revealed that Syrian refugees in Baghdad and a number of the country’s governorates were subjected to security persecution in order to deport them, and many young Syrians were forced to leave their jobs in shops and restaurants for fear of persecution campaigns.

Iraq hosts approximately 260,000 Syrian refugees, the vast majority of whom reside in the Kurdistan Region, and the number of refugees residing in camps is “95,745” people.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes since 2011, and about 6.8 million Syrians remain internally displaced, with 90% of the population living below the poverty line.

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