Iraqis in Syria

Iraqis in Syria are Syrian citizens of Iraqi origin and Iraqi residents in Syria.

History Syria has traditionally served as a refuge for exiles and displaced peoples in the region, and notably maintained a pan-Arabist tradition of keeping its borders open to other Arabs since 1960.Sassoon, Joseph (2009). Iraqi Refugees: The New Crisis in the Middle East. NY: I.B. Tauris, p. 61. Since 1948, several waves of Palestinians entered the country, where over 400,000 live today. During the 2006 Lebanon War, around 100,000 Lebanese citizens fled to Syria to find short-term shelter.International Crisis Group (2008). Failed Responsibility: Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon . ICG Middle East Report No. 77, 10 July 2008, p. 16. Syria welcomed several small waves of Iraqis beginning in the 1930s, including exiles from political opposition movements and later Shi'a and Kurds seeking refuge from the Hussein government.Al-Khalidi, Ashraf; Hoffman, Sophia; & Tanner, Victor (2007) Iraqi Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic: A Field-Based Snapshot. Brookings Institution-University of Bern Project on Internal Displacement Occasional Paper, June 2007, p. 9. Syria closed its border with Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, though it was re-opened in 1997. By 1999 the flow of Iraqis into Syria resumed, and by 2003 an estimated 250,000 Iraqis had fled to Syria.Sassoon, p. 61.

The present wave of refugees was sparked by the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The first to leave were officials and military officers with close ties to the former government, followed by people fleeing the violence in Al Anbar Governorate in 2004. At the same time, minority groups (including Christians, Mandaeans, and Yezidis) as well as secular-leaning families and professionals fled to escape being targeted amidst the increasingly violent and sectarian atmosphere in Baghdad and the country's south. Beginning with the bombing of the Shi'a shrine in Samarra in February 2006, Syria witnessed a massive influx of Shi'a and Sunni refugees who sought to escape the spiraling violence throughout the country.Al-Khalidi, p. 10; Sassoon, p. 62. As the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria reached crisis levels in 2007, the government came under considerable pressure to introduce a visa requirement. Additionally, many officials expressed frustration at the world's perceived indifference to their country's efforts. After the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki welcomed the idea of introducing the visa, the government implemented a new policy in October 2007 which sealed the border to many Iraqis.ICG, p. 21-23.

Though there is no consensus on the community's size, most estimates indicate that the number of displaced Iraqis in Syria remains well over 1,000,000 in 2010.Amnesty International (2008). Suffering in Silence: Iraqi Refugees in Syria. AI Briefing MDE 14/010/2008, p. 1. The refugee population who was registered with the UNHCR was 90,000 in 2012, 127,859 in 2011, and 151,000 in 2010.

The vast majority of refugees have left due to the immediate threats posed by Iraq's sectarian-related violence, while others have left due to a variety of related factors, which include reduced religious and social freedoms for minorities in homogenized neighborhoods, threats posed by MNF operations, reduced business and economic opportunities, and the collapse of Iraq's health care system.Al-Khalidi, p.16–20. While many Iraqis, particularly the wealthy, have also fled to Jordan, Syria has been a popular destination.

Profiles, origins, and locations UNHCR estimates that 63% of Iraqis in Syria are Sunni, 19% Shi'a, and lists an additional 3% as Islam unspecified. Iraq's vulnerable minority groups are represented in disproportionately high numbers in Syria, with Christians at 11%, Mandaeans between 1 and 4%, and Yezidis at just under 1%.UNHCR (2010). UNHCR Syria Update Winter 2010. p. 3. The majority of refugees are from Iraq's urban areas, with up to 80% hailing from Baghdad alone.Sassoon, p. 65. Large portions of Iraq's Christians and Mandaeans, in particular, have fled to Syria due to the targeting and dissolution of their urban communities in Iraq. The number of Palestinians in Iraq, which was around 30,000 prior to 2003, has also shriveled as well, with most settling in the Yarmouk neighborhood of Damascus until 2006, when the Syrian government chose to restrict their entry.Al-Khalidi, p. 13–14.

In 2007, Syrian officials estimated that 80% of Iraqi refugees in Syria were living in greater Damascus.Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2007). "Paper presented by the government of Syrian Arab Republic to the International Conference on addressing the humanitarian needs of the refugees and internally displaced persons inside Iraq and in the neighboring countries." April 2007, p. 4. The largest Iraqi communities are found in the southern suburbs of Jaramanah, which is largely Christian, and Sayyidah Zaynab, a predominantly Shi'a neighborhood. Damascene Iraqis also maintain a visible presence in Yarmouk and Qudsiyya. Many Sunnis, in particular, have been drawn to the northern municipalities of Aleppo, Homs, and Hama, while other Iraqis have settled in Tartus, Lattakia, Hasaka, Qamishli as well as the tribal areas of Deir ez-Zor and Abu Kemal.Al-Khalidi, p. 24–27. A camp at Al-Tanf, located at the border with Iraq, at times hosted over 1,000 Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq until its closure in February 2010. UNHCR ran the refugee camp for four years before relocating the majority of its inhabitants to Europe, while the remainder have been moved to al-Hol camp in northeast Syria.UNHCR Syria Update Winter 2010, p. 13.

Living conditions in Syria

Livelihoods Iraqis in Syria do not live in tented refugee camps or collective centers, but many are forced to stay in dirty and overcrowded apartments.Fagen, p. 16. Most lease agreements are made without a written contract, leaving tenants vulnerable to exploitation by Iraqi and Syrian landlords as rental prices spiral increasingly upwards.Amnesty International (2007). Millions in Flight: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis, AI Briefing MDE 14/041/2007, p. 11; al-Khalidi, p. 30. Due to their status as "guests," Iraqi refugees are not permitted to work legally in Syria. Consequently, Iraqi unemployment rates are high: 80% for women, and 53% for men.UNHCR (2006). Assessment on the Situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria, March 2006. Most Iraqis initially live off limited savings; when these run out, some improvise ways to find employment in Syria's informal economy, where they work in a variety of positions. However, Iraqis are often forced to work for meager wages and can be subject to exploitation at the hands of their employers. A number of the refugees also subsist on rental income from their properties in Iraq, remittances, or live off government pensions or salaries.Al-Khalidi, p. 35- 36. While the Syrian government occasionally offers work permits to well-established Iraqi professionals and entrepreneurs, Syrian partners are usually necessary to register businesses. Nevertheless, Iraqi businesses flourish in neighborhoods with a prominent Iraqi presence.Fagen p.16; al-Khalidi, p. 35.

Education Iraqi children have access to Syrian elementary and secondary schools, where attendance is free for Syrians and Iraqis alike, though refugee families usually incur the cost of supplies, uniforms, and occasionally textbooks. Unfortunately, many Syrian schools were already crowded prior to 2003; since then, the education system has strained to accommodate the massive influx of refugee children, particularly in the Damascus area.Al-Khalidi, p. 33–34. In 2007, the Syrian Ministry of Education indicated that only 30,000 Iraqi children—only 10% of the estimated number of school-age refugees—were enrolled in public schools.Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2007), p. 6. Analysts attribute the low enrollment numbers to the difficulty of enrolling after the beginning of the school year or without the requisite documentation, overcrowding, curriculum and proficiency gaps between Syrians and Iraqis of the same age, long commutes between home and school, financial conditions which force some families to have their children work, and social fears due to high levels of psychological trauma among children.Al-Khalidi p. 33–34Fagen, Patricia Weiss (2007). Iraqi Refugees: Seeking Stability in Syria and Jordan . Georgetown University Institute for the Study of International Migration and GU School of Foreign Service in Qatar Center for International and Regional Studies Study, p. 17; Amnesty International (2007). Iraq: The situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria. AI Briefing MDE 14/036/2007, 26 July 2007, p. 8; Sassoon, p. 69–70. Though enrollment rose to nearly 50,000 in the 2007–8 school year, the number fell back down to 32,000 in 2008–09.UNHCR Syria Update Winter 2010, p. 9. Sadly, nearly half of the small fraction of children who manage to enroll ultimately drop out.Sassoon, p. 70. As a consequence, illiteracy is rapidly on the rise among Iraqi children in Syria, prompting a number of aid organizations and concerned teachers in Syria to offer remedial lessons and summer classes to help Iraqis catch up to their Syrian classmates.Alam, Hannah (2007). "Illiteracy increasing among Iraq's refugee children," McClatchy Newspapers, 11 December 2007. In 2007, it was estimated that only 770 Iraqis were attending university in Syria, with a large number at the private Syrian International University outside Damascus.Sassoon, p. 71.

Health care All Iraqi citizens in Syria received free public health care until 2006, at which time prohibitive costs forced Syrian authorities to introduce restrictions.Amnesty International (2007) Iraq: The situation of Iraqi refugees in Syria, p. 9. Though government hospitals sometimes treat Iraqis nationals for free, especially in emergency cases, refugees usually rely on clinics managed by charities, churches, or humanitarian organizations such as the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. At SARC clinics, UNHCR-registered patients were only responsible for 20% of the costs until 2009, at which time the UNHCR replaced the percentage system with a flat rate. Today, the Syrian government and various NGOs are still working the standardize the healthcare system for Iraqi refugees.Amnesty International (2008) Suffering in Silence: Iraqi Refugees in Syria, p. 12; UNHCR 2010 update 8. In addition, the UNHCR has found that there is a serious need for psychological support to the refugees, nearly all of whom have been traumatized to varying degrees over recent years, with many still under overwhelming psychological stress today.Loughry, Maryanne; Duncan, Julianne (2008) Iraqi Refugees in Syria: A report of the ICMC-USCCB mission to assess the protection needs of Iraqi refugees in Syria, International Catholic Migration Commission Report, April 2008, p. 8; Amnesty International (2008) Suffering in Silence: Iraqi Refugees in Syria, p. 13.

Families, women and children