Syria severely restricts Iraqi refugee influx

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria has imposed strict visa requirements on Iraqi nationals, officials said on Monday, cutting the only accessible escape route for thousands of refugees fleeing the upheaval in Iraq.

A government decree that takes effect on September 10 bars Iraqi passport holders from entering Syria except for businessmen and academics, a small minority of the 3,000-5,000 refugees who currently cross the border every day.

Jordan, the other main goal of Iraqi refugees, imposed its own visa requirements some two years ago.

"Syria has already received more than 1.5 million refugees and there could be no end in sight to what the Americans unleashed there. We simply can't cope any more," a Syrian official told Reuters.

The official gave no indication that Syria could force refugees already in the country to leave.

At Rawda cafe in the Syrian capital, a meeting point for refugees, Iraqis expressed frustration at the new regulations.

"All the roads in front of us are now blocked. Arab governments are making the lives of Iraqis even more miserable," said Fadel Ahmad, who came from Baghdad.

"Escaping to Syria has kept me and my family alive. What are people facing death and eviction from there homes in Iraq supposed to do now?" asked Wafa Mahdi, a former school teacher.