By Baghdadhope
According to what Ron Redmond, spokeperson of the UNHCR, said during a press briefing held on May 5 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the improved situation in Iraq led the UNHCR to review for the first time since the end of 2007 the guidelines setting out the criteria for accepting Iraqi asylum seekers. Guidelines that for the governments hosting on their territories Iraqi refugees are in any case only a suggestion and not an obligation.
In the past according to UNHCR all Iraqis from the central and southern governorates of the country - apart from those belonging to banned categories such as those who had committed war crimes - had to be considered as refugees. The difference in the guidelines now revised is that with regard to the Iraqis coming from those governorates the evaluation of the acceptability of their refugee requests will not be automatic but individually assessed.
The case is different however for those Iraqis who even if coming from the center and the south belong to specific groups identified as at risk and who “should receive favourable consideration.” These groups include the members of ethnic and religious minorities, the public officials, those who are perceived as opponents of the armed groups and political factions, those affiliated with the multinational forces or foreign companies, some professionals (unspecified), media, UN and NGO workers, human rights activists and homosexuals.
As for Iraqis coming from the governorates of Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk and Salah Al-Din, as well as those from the three governorates of Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah (comprising the autonomous region of Kurdistan) but who did not originate there UNHCR suggests the international protection and calls on foreign governments not to force them to return to Iraq while for those who originated in the three Kurdish governorates UNHCR’s suggestion is the evaluation of the individual cases.
According to the UNHCR the improvement of the situation in Iraq, however, is not sufficient to encourage the massive return of the refugees or to allow for the general application of the cessation clauses removing refugee status. For this reason the suggestion is that those who already enjoy international protection can maintain their status.
The case is different however for those Iraqis who even if coming from the center and the south belong to specific groups identified as at risk and who “should receive favourable consideration.” These groups include the members of ethnic and religious minorities, the public officials, those who are perceived as opponents of the armed groups and political factions, those affiliated with the multinational forces or foreign companies, some professionals (unspecified), media, UN and NGO workers, human rights activists and homosexuals.
As for Iraqis coming from the governorates of Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk and Salah Al-Din, as well as those from the three governorates of Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah (comprising the autonomous region of Kurdistan) but who did not originate there UNHCR suggests the international protection and calls on foreign governments not to force them to return to Iraq while for those who originated in the three Kurdish governorates UNHCR’s suggestion is the evaluation of the individual cases.
According to the UNHCR the improvement of the situation in Iraq, however, is not sufficient to encourage the massive return of the refugees or to allow for the general application of the cessation clauses removing refugee status. For this reason the suggestion is that those who already enjoy international protection can maintain their status.
