SOURCE: AP
Syria has admitted more than 800,000 Iraqis who have fled the violence in their country, the official Al-Baath newspaper quoted Syria's Interior Ministry as saying Wednesday.
The report put the influx down to Syria's relaxed rules for Arabs seeking visas as well as Syria's physical and cultural proximity to Iraq.
The report put the influx down to Syria's relaxed rules for Arabs seeking visas as well as Syria's physical and cultural proximity to Iraq.
The report said as many as 648,000 of the Iraqis entered Syria in 2003 in the months after the overthrow of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces.
Iraqis are granted annual residence permits if they have a fixed financial income, private property or have registered their children at a Syrian school, the Interior Ministry official was quoted as saying.
Iraqi refugees have settled mostly in and around Damascus, the Syrian capital. Most are said to be of middle class background and are living on their savings.