Iraq Denies Opening Its Borders to Receive Syrian Refugees

In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Monday, 2 February, the ministry said it “categorically denies these reports” and urged the public to be accurate and rely only on official sources, warning against what it described as “malicious rumors.”

The ministry also stressed that bloggers and social media users should refrain from circulating false information and should follow the official platforms of the competent authorities.

Pages in Iraq and Syria had circulated claims that the Iraqi government intended to receive 350,000 Syrian refugees amid security developments in northeastern Syria.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on 27 January that more than 170,000 people have been displaced since 6 January in Syria’s Aleppo, al-Hasakah, and Raqqa governorates following fighting between the Syrian army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

On border security measures, the spokesperson for the Iraqi commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Sabah al-Numan, said on 24 January that construction of the concrete wall along the Syria border has reached 80 percent.

Al-Numan said the concrete wall is equipped with thermal cameras and is one of three main barriers separating the Iraqi Syrian border, alongside barbed wire and a trench, with the concrete wall added as an additional layer.

He added that Iraq’s borders are fully secured not only with Syria but with all neighboring countries, noting that Syria’s unstable security situation has required increased focus on securing the Iraqi Syrian border.

Iraq begins investigations into Islamic State detainees transferred from Syria

Iraq announced it has started investigative procedures for 1,387 Islamic State detainees recently received from detention facilities in Syria.

In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) on Monday, 2 February, Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said the First Karkh Investigative Court has begun investigating the 1,387 Islamic State members who were recently transferred from Syria.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry previously said only 450 Islamic State detainees have arrived from Syrian prisons, out of a total of 7,000.

The Supreme Judicial Council said the trials are being conducted under the direct supervision of the head of the council through judges specialized in counterterrorism. It added that procedures will follow approved legal and humanitarian frameworks and align with national laws and international standards.

The council said these steps come as part of Iraq’s efforts to complete investigations and hold those involved in the group’s crimes accountable under applicable laws, alongside international coordination to address cases and crimes that may amount to genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Supreme Judicial Council expects the number of detainees transferred to Iraq to exceed 7,000. It said the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation will work to document and provide investigative bodies and courts with previously archived documents and evidence.

[Source: Enab Baladi English]