Sep 22 2012

Iraqi exiles in Syria fear for their lives but are afraid to return home

By Zeena Sami

Azzaman,  September 22, 2012

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria are in danger but cannot return for fear of being questions and imprisoned, according to a legislator who just ended a fact-finding mission to Syria.

Hassan Alawi said he met many Iraqi exiles willing to escape violence in Syria but were not sure about their fate once they returned home.

“I have a message from a great number of Iraqis in Syria addressed to Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki in which they demand that they not be questioned if they returned home,” Alawi said. “They want to escape kidnapping and murder in Syria.”

He said he would pass the message to the prime minister and would like to stress that Iraqis in Syria are in real danger.

“They (Iraqi exiles) have asked me to work as a mediator between them and the prime minister,” he said.

“The prime minister is required to take a courageous and suitable decision” that will make it easy for Iraqi refugees in Syria to return home without any fears of being questioned.

There are many Iraqis who fled to Syria as they feared prosecution in Iraq for political reasons.

Syria was, before it became engulfed in violence, the haven for Iraqis fleeing violence in their own country.

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