Iraqis in Syria - History

History

Syria has traditionally served as a refuge for exiles and displaced peoples in the region, and notably maintained a pan-Arabist tradition of keeping its borders open to other Arabs since 1960. Since 1948, several waves of Palestinians entered the country, where over 400,000 live today. During the July War of 2006, around 100,000 Lebanese citizens fled to Syria to find short-term shelter. Syria welcomed several small waves of Iraqis beginning in the 1930s, including exiles from political opposition movements and later Shi'a and Kurds seeking refuge from the Hussein regime. Syria closed its border with Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, though it was re-opened in 1997. By 1999 the flow of Iraqis into Syria resumed, and by 2003 an estimated 250,000 Iraqis had fled to Syria.

The present wave of refugees was sparked by the invasion of 2003. The first to leave were officials and military officers with close ties to the former regime, followed by people fleeing the violence in the Anbar province in 2004. At the same time, minority groups (including Christians, Mandeans, and Yezidis) as well as secular-leaning families and professionals fled to escape being targeted amidst the increasingly violent and sectarian atmosphere in Baghdad and the country's south. Beginning with the bombing of the Shi'a shrine in Samarra in February 2006, Syria witnessed a massive influx of Shi'a and Sunni refugees who sought to escape the spiraling violence throughout the country. As the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria reached crisis levels in 2007, the government came under considerable pressure to introduce a visa requirement. Additionally, many officials expressed frustration at the world's perceived indifference to their country's efforts. After the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki welcomed the idea of introducing the visa, the regime implemented a new policy in October 2007 which sealed the border to many Iraqis.

The vast majority of refugees have left due to the immediate threats posed by Iraq's sectarian-related violence, while others have left due to a variety of related factors, which include reduced religious and social freedoms for minorities in homogenized neighborhoods, threats posed by MNF operations, reduced business and economic opportunities, and the collapse of Iraq's health care system. While many Iraqis, particularly the wealthy, have also fled to Jordan, Syria has been a popular destination because it has an accessible border, modest entry requirements, a robust informal economy, available services, and a relatively tolerant religious atmosphere. Furthermore, the expanding presence of Iraqi refugee communities in Syria means an increasing number of Iraqis are drawn to their family members and friends over the border.