Iraqi refugees to return home voluntarily from Iran

Director General of Foreign Nationals and Expatriates Affairs Department Hojjatoleslam Hassanali Ebrahimi said on Saturday that Iran in cooperation with Iraq had provided necessary facilities for voluntary repatriation of Iraqi refugees, an IRNA report said.

Ebrahimi told IRNA on Saturday "that formation of an Iran-Iraq joint committee on refugees has facilitated the voluntary return home of Iraqi refugees residing in Iran by offering necessary documents. He said the committee had in its Saturday meeting reached important agreements on voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees."

IRNA said "He put the total number of registered Iraqi refugees in Iran at 220,000 and said the figure would rise to 300,000 if the unregistered refugees are taken into account. He predicted that 1,600 Iranians residing in Iraq will return home on their own will early next year. He said there are 20,000 Iranian refugees in different Iraqi refugee camps."