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Iraqi refugees abroad flock home from turmoil
<BLOCKQUOTE class="postcontent restore">* Hundreds flocking back from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria
* Iraq's own violence has eased comparatively since 2007
* Refugees happy to be home, hope security can improve
By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD, May 31 (Reuters) - Five years ago, Iraqi goldsmith Samir Razaq sold all his belongings and fled the sectarian warfare engulfing his homeland to begin a new life in Syria.
But in the last few days, he has returned to Iraq, this time looking for sanctuary from violence and instability threatening Syria and other states in the Middle East and North Africa.
Officials in Baghdad say hundreds of Iraqis, former refugees from years of turmoil and sectarian conflict at home, have been flowing back this year from Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria as popular uprisings demanding reforms sweep the region.
Razaq came home with his wife, leaving his two sons in Syria to finish their exams. He returned to fix his house, still scarred by the destruction from the communal violence that ravaged his southern Baghdad neighbourhood in 2006-2007.
As Iraq's internal conflict has eased comparatively, he preferred now to be at home rather than in Syria.
"The situation is unbearable, Syria is no longer a safe haven, and it will witness the same kind of violence that Iraq experienced after the regime change in 2003," he said, while carrying a new mattress to refit his house.
Syria, which has a 600-km (375-mile) border with Iraq, received hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein and triggered years of bloody sectarian strife.
Salam al-Khafaji, a deputy minister of migration and displacement, said hundreds of Iraqis were returning from abroad and he expected the numbers to increase as turbulence in Syria and other troubled nations in the region increased.
"There are a lot of Iraqis stuck in those countries and we seek to evacuate them but our problem is we don't have offices in those countries, and there are weaknesses in coordination between the respective ministries," Khafaji said.
He added Iraq's government had sent planes to bring back a total of 3,734 Iraqi nationals from Egypt, Yemen and Libya this year after they requested evacuation.
"Many times more refugees have returned to Iraq on their own, and without informing us," Khafaji said.
BUSES COMING BACK FULL FROM SYRIA
The level of violence has eased in Iraq from the 2006-2007 peak of the sectarian conflict that pitted rival Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims against each other, although bomb and gun attacks against officials and security forces still occur daily.
Nevertheless, the government is trying to encourage Iraqi refugees abroad to return by offering free transport and an incentive of 4 million Iraqi dinars ($3,400) per family.
Haider Farid, a physician, returned to Iraq last week from Yemen on a plane sent by the Iraqi government.
"My family and I decided to return home because the situation in Yemen is worsening," he told Reuters.
"We left Iraq seeking safety and now as there is no security in Yemen, we made up our minds to come home," said Farid, who was visiting the Migration and Displacement Ministry to file the documents needed for him to receive the returnee grant.
The return of the Iraqi refugees from abroad has boosted the business of travel companies who have increased the number of trips they offer from Syria. The price of a bus ticket from Damascus to Baghdad is around $30.
"We had about 700 passengers travelling on our buses in the past week, mostly returnee families with their belongings," said Muafaq Mohammed, the owner of a travel company in Baghdad.
"We send almost empty buses to Syria and they drive back full," he added.
Returning Iraqis said they were pleased and relieved to be home again and they hoped the security situation in their country would continue to improve.
"Being abroad took a heavy toll on us," said Farid.
"I feel good when I hear the Iraqi dialect, I feel like a fish back in water." (Writing by Muhanad Mohammed; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Jonathan Lynn)
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="postcontent restore">* Hundreds flocking back from Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria
* Iraq's own violence has eased comparatively since 2007
* Refugees happy to be home, hope security can improve
By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD, May 31 (Reuters) - Five years ago, Iraqi goldsmith Samir Razaq sold all his belongings and fled the sectarian warfare engulfing his homeland to begin a new life in Syria.
But in the last few days, he has returned to Iraq, this time looking for sanctuary from violence and instability threatening Syria and other states in the Middle East and North Africa.
Officials in Baghdad say hundreds of Iraqis, former refugees from years of turmoil and sectarian conflict at home, have been flowing back this year from Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria as popular uprisings demanding reforms sweep the region.
Razaq came home with his wife, leaving his two sons in Syria to finish their exams. He returned to fix his house, still scarred by the destruction from the communal violence that ravaged his southern Baghdad neighbourhood in 2006-2007.
As Iraq's internal conflict has eased comparatively, he preferred now to be at home rather than in Syria.
"The situation is unbearable, Syria is no longer a safe haven, and it will witness the same kind of violence that Iraq experienced after the regime change in 2003," he said, while carrying a new mattress to refit his house.
Syria, which has a 600-km (375-mile) border with Iraq, received hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees following the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein and triggered years of bloody sectarian strife.
Salam al-Khafaji, a deputy minister of migration and displacement, said hundreds of Iraqis were returning from abroad and he expected the numbers to increase as turbulence in Syria and other troubled nations in the region increased.
"There are a lot of Iraqis stuck in those countries and we seek to evacuate them but our problem is we don't have offices in those countries, and there are weaknesses in coordination between the respective ministries," Khafaji said.
He added Iraq's government had sent planes to bring back a total of 3,734 Iraqi nationals from Egypt, Yemen and Libya this year after they requested evacuation.
"Many times more refugees have returned to Iraq on their own, and without informing us," Khafaji said.
BUSES COMING BACK FULL FROM SYRIA
The level of violence has eased in Iraq from the 2006-2007 peak of the sectarian conflict that pitted rival Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims against each other, although bomb and gun attacks against officials and security forces still occur daily.
Nevertheless, the government is trying to encourage Iraqi refugees abroad to return by offering free transport and an incentive of 4 million Iraqi dinars ($3,400) per family.
Haider Farid, a physician, returned to Iraq last week from Yemen on a plane sent by the Iraqi government.
"My family and I decided to return home because the situation in Yemen is worsening," he told Reuters.
"We left Iraq seeking safety and now as there is no security in Yemen, we made up our minds to come home," said Farid, who was visiting the Migration and Displacement Ministry to file the documents needed for him to receive the returnee grant.
The return of the Iraqi refugees from abroad has boosted the business of travel companies who have increased the number of trips they offer from Syria. The price of a bus ticket from Damascus to Baghdad is around $30.
"We had about 700 passengers travelling on our buses in the past week, mostly returnee families with their belongings," said Muafaq Mohammed, the owner of a travel company in Baghdad.
"We send almost empty buses to Syria and they drive back full," he added.
Returning Iraqis said they were pleased and relieved to be home again and they hoped the security situation in their country would continue to improve.
"Being abroad took a heavy toll on us," said Farid.
"I feel good when I hear the Iraqi dialect, I feel like a fish back in water." (Writing by Muhanad Mohammed; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Jonathan Lynn)
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