US delegation grants 603 Iraqis the right of asylum

Mohammed al-Deyri, the highest-ranking official for protecting the refugees in the bureau of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Damascus said a delegation from the US immigration department has agreed to grant 713 Arabs, including 653 Iraqis, the right to asylum in the US.

This number is out of out of 837 refugees with whom they conducted interviews in the last two weeks.

Al-Deyri expressed his pleasure over the increase of the percentage of refugees accepted to 85%. A US delegation last year granted 139 Iraqis the right to asylum out of 240 persons whom they met in al-Hall camp in eastern Syria.

Al-Deyri said the accepted refugees will travel to the US before September 30, while he said he expects the arrival of delegations from other countries to study the other refugees within the commissariat's policy, based on settling the refugees in other countries.