ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - In just over two months, Iraq deported dozens of foreign nationals for visa violations, the interior ministry announced on Saturday.
The residency affairs directorate “deported 68 individuals for violating residency laws between July 1 and September 10,” according to a statement from the ministry on Facebook.
The statement did not provide further details on the specific violations or nationalities of those who were deported.
In March, Iraqi authorities initiated a crackdown on foreigners it said were in violation of residency requirements. Numerous Syrians were detained and deported following raids on their residences and workplaces.
Iraq hosts more than 260,000 Syrian refugees, according to figures from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), with more than 254,000 of them residing in the Kurdistan Region, according to data from the regional government.
Human rights organizations have criticized Iraq for unlawfully deporting refugees and have called on Iraqi authorities to end the practice.
In June, Human Rights Watch said that authorities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have unlawfully arrested and deported Syrian refugees. “Iraq should immediately end its distressing campaign of arbitrary arrests and deportations of Syrians who have fled to Iraq for safety,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at the watchdog.
