Iraqi Embassy is offering free trips home for refugees in Syria
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DAMASCUS, SYRIA — With violence down in Iraq, the country’s embassy in Damascus is starting to organize free trips home for Iraqis who fled the conflict and now want to return, an Iraqi diplomat said Wednesday.
Free convoys and even airplane tickets are part of a new push by the Baghdad government to reach out to Iraqi refugees in Syria, said Adnan Shourifi, commercial secretary at the Iraqi Embassy.
He said the first free trips are scheduled for Monday, when a convoy of buses and an Iraqi Airways flight will take refugees home. Shourifi said officials expected hundreds to go.
Thousands of Iraqis who had been living in Syria have headed home in recent weeks.
That exodus was attributed mostly to Syria imposing tougher visa requirements that took effect last month, making it more difficult for Iraqis to stay here legally, but improved security in Iraq also was seen as a factor.
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