HRW urges Iraq authorities to cease arbitrary arrest and deportation of Syria refugees News
Y. Boechat (VOA), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
HRW urges Iraq authorities to cease arbitrary arrest and deportation of Syria refugees

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Iraqi government on Thursday to halt the arbitrary detention and deportation of Syrian asylum seekers. According to HRW, Iraqi authorities have detained and deported Syrians even when they possessed the required Iraqi documentation.

HRW reported that Iraqi authorities neither considered the asylum seeker status of Syrians nor provided any opportunity to contest the deportation orders. According to UNHCR, about 90% of refugees and asylum seekers in Iraq are from Syria. In 2023, the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq banned the deportation of any Syrian refugee from the country. Nevertheless, on March 18, 2024, Iraqi authorities launched a campaign targeting foreigners who violate residency rules, resulting in the detention and deportation of many Syrians after raids on their homes and workplaces.

The conduct of Iraqi authorities vis-à-vis  asylum seekers breaches Iraq’s obligations as a party to the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and violates the international law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits use of force to return people to countries where they face a risk of torture or other form of persecution. Iraq is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor to its 1967 Protocol. Political Refugee Law No. 51 of 1971 identifies political and military refugees, but Syrians arriving after 2011 have not been granted such recognition. However, UNHCR issues Syrians in Iraq”‘asylum-seeker certificates” under which they are issued personal identification which exempts them from the Foreign Residency Law.

The decade-long civil war in Syria has resulted in the world’s largest refugee population as many Syrians chose to flee due to prolonged armed conflict and security situation. Although Syria has not been in conflict since 2018, the country remains unsafe for returning refugees. Syrian refugees face arrests and deportations not only from Iraq but also from Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, and Türkiye and in recent times, Syrian refugees have been subjected to increasing pressure to return. A report published in 2024, OHCHR underlined that upon their return to the countries, Syrian refugees face abuse and persecution by their government. HRW documented multiple cases between 2017 and 2021 in which Syrian security agencies detained, kidnapped, tortured, and killed returning Syrian refugees.

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