Kurdistan
Peshmerga forces at a checkpoint in Erbil on March 23, 2020. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah / Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Travelers will now be permitted to use the Kurdistan Region’s Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Turkey and the Haji Omaran and Bashmakh border crossings with Iran between 8am and midnight on Mondays and Thursdays, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said Sunday.
The order comes into force from Monday morning.
However, travelers without special authorization will not be permitted to move between the provinces of the Kurdistan Region until May 18. Travelers can apply for permission on the KRG’s website.
The border crossings were closed under measures to contain the further spread of the coronavirus. As the outbreak appears to have been brought under control in the Kurdistan Region, the KRG has decided to reopen government ministries from Monday as lockdown measures are gradually lifted.
Foreigners with Kurdistan Region residency cards are now permitted to reenter the Kurdistan Region, but only with a support letter issued by the KRG. However, the KRG statement did not specify which ministry would supply this letter.
The statement did not say when Erbil and Sulaimani airports would reopen.
Residents who must travel between the Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi federal provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Diyala for work purposes are permitted to do so with supporting documentation, but must submit to weekly coronavirus testing.
Governors of Kurdistan Region provinces have now been granted powers to open public spaces, but are required to consider public health instructions from central government.
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