Syria Closes Its Borders, Requires 1.5 Million Iraqi Refugees To Return To Iraq

[babylonsister]

Syria Shuts Main Exit From War for Iraqis

By THANASSIS CAMBANIS
Published: October 21, 2007


DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 20 — Long the only welcoming country in the region for Iraqi refugees, Syria has closed its borders to all but a small group of Iraqis and imposed new visa rules that will legally require the 1.5 million Iraqis currently in Syria to return to Iraq.

The change quietly went into effect on Oct. 1. Syrian officials have often threatened to stem the flow of refugees over the past eight months, but until now have backed down after pleas from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

For more than a year, 2,000 to 4,000 Iraqis have fled into Syria every day, according to United Nations officials. On the last four days that the border remained open, the officials said, 25,000 Iraqis crossed into Syria.

“The door is now closed to Iraqis in every direction,” said Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman here for the United Nations refugee agency.

It is unclear whether Syria will enforce the rules for the Iraqis already in the country. United Nations officials believe Syria is likely to continue its practice of not deporting citizens of other Arab countries whose immigration status is illegal.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/21/world/middleeast/21syria.html?ex=1350619200&en=3eb7cf9f3383dd34&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[spanone]

1. luckily, our president is really concerned about refugees

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[NMDemDist2]

2. Isn't that where Riverbend's family went ??

:cry:

[tomg]

4. thinking the same way.

[tomg]

3. To put a very human voice to it

you might want to read riverbends last blog entry:

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

God how I hate what we have done. My very much younger cousin is being returned in a few weeks, but he is going back for his second tour.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. holy mass movement

batman.

[Solly Mack]

6. :(

it's all just one big ball of human misery...and it didn't have to be

[babylonsister]

7. You said it. nt

[donsu]

8. who is pushing Syria to do this?

we know the Iraqis were a drain and strain for Syria but everybody was coping.

Israel bombs something. Syria says it was nothing. Now all the Iraqi have to go back to no home, job, food, etc.

americans will pay for what the neo cons have done.

[Igel]

10. There have also been articles on the Iraqis' finances.

A lot are about out of money.

They've been consuming Syrian resources. Now they're going to need a lot more, while adding little to the economy. Sounds mercenary, but it's probably less mercenary than other suggestions.

And Syria has a bit of an electrical problem that recently became a scandal--their own engineers said they'd have an electricity shortfall, and they didn't do anything in time. Even with the added million+ refugees. Perhaps they've decided to be mercenary and blame the Iraqi refugees for part of the problem. Dunno. We tend to not hear things that aren't politically palatable to the reporters and editors.

Now add in punishing Iraqis in order to punish neocons (which is, of course, going to be a common assumption, and will be sure to be quickly supplied with some damned weird mental contortions to justify such 3rd-party collective punishment).

And there are many more possible explanations, each more venal than the next. Which can be taken either in isolation or in any number of combinations.

[Malikshah]

9. I just read an article in this month's GQ about Iraqi refugees in Syria

The author interviews a number of them about the process and their lives in Iraq and Syria--

It is quite eye-opening.

I looked, but there's no online link I could find for it.

[Horse with no Name]

11. "Do unto others as you would have done unto you"

That is probably what I fear most.