Unwanted in Syria, hundreds of Iraqi refugees return home

The passengers are all returning Iraqi refugees and the convoy is being paid for by the Iraqi government which hopes to reverse the exodus of 2.2 million Iraqis from their country over the past four years. Some have already gone home because of a reduction in violence in Baghdad or because tighter visa restrictions in Syria means Iraqis have no choice but to head back.

For the first time, more crowded buses are crossing the Syrian border heading for Baghdad than there are buses leaving Iraq for Damascus. The UN estimates that 1,500 Iraqis are entering their home country every day from Syria and only 500 are leaving.

It is only a small first step. Returning Iraqis are usually going to areas where a single community dominates. Few are going to once mixed areas where they had owned a house which was taken over by the other side. One Sunni who came back from Damascus several months ago said he felt safe in his own district "but I do not dare set foot outside it".

People in Baghdad are divided on whether they are seeing an interlude or something more long-lasting. Al-Qa'ida has largely disappeared from the capital but the Sunni and Shia militias are as powerful as ever. Baghdad is divided into armed camps even if there are often local ceasefires.

The news is genuinely good but the extent to which refugees are returning is being exaggerated by the Iraqi government. It claims that 46,000 refugees came back in October, but the figure includes everybody who crossed the border during the month regardless of reason.

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