ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Iraqi migration ministry on Friday announced they have begun operating flights to return Lebanese “guests” who had sought refuge in the country during the conflict with Israel while adding they are yet to discuss the matter of the return of Syrian refugees with the new administration in Damascus.
Lebanese numbering around "22,000 have not all returned, due to the suspension of flights as a result of the recent Syrian events and the postponement of free transportation for Iraqi Airways planes,” Karim al-Nouri, an official from the Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement told the Iraqi state media on Friday.
According to a previous statement by the Iraqi transport ministry, there will be seven weekly scheduled flights between the two countries at first, adding that the number of flights will increase according to the volume of demand and the “evaluation of the circumstances.”
Iraq and many other countries suspended flights to Lebanon in September amid heightening tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Iraq received thousands of displaced Lebanese during the conflict.
After two months of a fully-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah, a ceasefire deal brokered by the United States and France brought the deadly conflict to a halt in late November. More than 3,000 people were killed in over a year of fighting in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel.
Iraq resumed flights to Lebanon for a short period in early December, but suspended them again on December 8 in the wake of the escalations in Syria and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
A decision by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in early October reclassified Lebanese refugees as "guests of Iraq."
Speaking of Syrian refugees in Iraq, the Iraqi migration ministry official said they have not touched upon this matter with the new Syrian government administration yet.
“There are many [Syrians] who wish to return,” Nouri said. “Especially those who left under the former Syrian regime.”
An 11-day sweeping rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, brought a five-decade-long rule of the Assad family to an end on December 8.
Iraq "has not actually received requests, but when there is a decision, all those wishing will be returned, but this matter requires preparations such as securing the borders and providing means of transportation and others,” Nouri said.
Iraq hosts around 280,000 Syrian refugees, with the majority of them residing in the Kurdistan Region.
Syria’s new authorities have repeatedly called on the international community to help lift sanctions in a bid to rebuild the country and pave the way for the return of millions of Syria from across the world back to the country.
Since Assad’s ouster on December 8, tens of thousands of Syrians have returned to their country from the neighboring countries, notably Turkey.
The UN migration agency (IOM) last week advised against any “large-scale” return of Syrian refugees back to the country until greater stability is achieved.
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