Iraqi refugees airlifted from Cairo to Baghdad on premier's jet

Aug 9, 2008, 9:24 GMT

Baghdad - The Iraqi embassy in Cairo is to start repatriating free of charge Iraqi refugees on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's private jet, according to the Iraqi pro-government newspaper al-Sabah.

'Al-Maliki gave the green light to such flights after the Embassy reported to him that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has for months stopped financially supporting flights from Egypt to Iraq leaving dozens of Iraqi families stranded,' al-Sabah quoted Iraqi councilor in Cairo Nizar Mohammed as saying.

The councilor said the first flight will include 60 families totalling 250 passengers, and that there will be a weekly flight to help airlift the growing number of people wanting to return to Iraq.

The Iraqi Embassy in Cairo receives 80 applications daily from Iraqis who mostly are either listed as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or are Iraqis studying in Egypt. The Embassy however is giving priority to families over individuals, the Iraqi Councilor said.

Although the largest concentrations of Iraqi refugees are in Syria and Jordan, up to 150,000 Iraqis have settled in Egypt. Wary of the massive influx experienced in Syria and Jordan, the Egyptian authorities have restricted entrance to new Iraqis and reportedly have not granted those Iraqis who have made it to Egypt any official status or access to social services.

Over two and a half million Iraqi refugees have fled their country since the US-led invasion that overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.