"The United States has nearly halted the processing of visas for Iraqi refugees in Syria, leaving thousands of people who fled a war in their homeland marooned in a country in the grip of an increasingly violent insurrection, with little hope of leaving anytime soon."
The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : ‘Caught between a rock and no place'. Most Iraqi refugees are clustered in the suburbs of Damascus, can only wait as the unrest escalates and countries in the region like Israel worry about a new refugee crisis if Syria's government collapses or if a civil war erupts, two events that experts believe are increasingly likely.
Many Iraqis who escaped to Syria at the height of the sectarian violence were increasingly anxious, some have joined pro-government rallies to avoid deportation, while few want to go back to Iraq. But the stakes are higher now in the wake of the U.S. troop departure from Iraq.
The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : ‘Caught between a rock and no place'. Most Iraqi refugees are clustered in the suburbs of Damascus, can only wait as the unrest escalates and countries in the region like Israel worry about a new refugee crisis if Syria's government collapses or if a civil war erupts, two events that experts believe are increasingly likely.
Many Iraqis who escaped to Syria at the height of the sectarian violence were increasingly anxious, some have joined pro-government rallies to avoid deportation, while few want to go back to Iraq. But the stakes are higher now in the wake of the U.S. troop departure from Iraq.