Lebanon moves to regularize Iraqi asylum-seekers

UNHCR spokeswoman Laure Chedrawi told IRIN none of the hundreds of Iraqi would-be refugees in Lebanese prisons for violating immigration rules had yet been released, but the administrative process had started and the agency was waiting for a list from the General Security Directorate of all those who had served their sentences and were therefore eligible for the process.

The Iraqi embassy in Beirut also needs to issue passports to those who do not have them, she said. Along with non-governmental organization Caritas, UNHCR is to support the detainees, including giving them legal aid to apply for their new papers.

"This is a very positive step, as so many refugees will be affected," Chedrawi said. UNHCR does not yet know how many are in prison in Lebanon, but said in a statement that in October 2007 up to 584 Iraqis were in jail for violating immigration rules. Many had served their sentences and were being held arbitrarily.

Lebanon hosts about 50,000 Iraqi asylum-seekers, comparatively few of the estimated 2.2 million across the region, mostly in Jordan and Syria. According to a study in late 2007 by the Danish Refugee Council, three-quarters of Iraqi asylum-seekers in Lebanon had entered the country illegally.

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