Long one of the top destinations for Iraqis fleeing the violence racking their country, 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 currently in Syria to leave.
The change quietly went into effect 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 UN 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 for the UN refugee agency.
It is unclear whether Syria will enforce the rules on Iraqis already in the country. UN officials believe the Syrian government is likely to continue its practice of not deporting citizens of other Arab countries whose immigration status is illegal. The Syrian government has avoided any direct announcement about the policy, leaving refugees and UN officials in a haze.
Syria announced the new rules this summer and said they would take effect Sept. 1. But it postponed their implementation and continued to accept refugees until Oct. 1. Under the old visa rules, Iraqis entered Syria without restriction and were allowed to remain for three months.
Under the new rules, Iraqis must apply for visas at the Syrian Embassy in Baghdad. Only academics, merchants with commercial interests requiring travel to Syria, and taxi and truck drivers qualify for visas. Truck drivers ferry a vibrant trade between the two countries, and taxis are allowed to maintain whatever human traffic is still authorized.
The immediate effect has been to cut the flood of refugees to a trickle, no more than a hundred people a day, according to the United Nations. Over the long term, it means that Iraqi refugees who overstay their three-month visas to Syria may have to make the dangerous trip back to Baghdad and apply to return under the new visa requirement, which disqualifies all but a handful.
Syrian officials said they were responding to a long-standing request from Iraq’s government to close the border.