Jordan to require visas for incoming Iraqi refugees, official says

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Jordan, home to some 750,000 Iraqis, has decided to impose visas on new Iraqi refugees entering the country, a senior government official announced Monday. Chief government spokesman Nasser Judeh did not specify when the new measure would begin, but said that it would be carried out in cooperation with Iraqi authorities. "We've agreed on the principle that this (visa) option makes the most sense, but we have not yet finalized the procedures," Judeh told reporters at a press conference in the Jordanian capital. Syria, which hosts some 1.5 million Iraqi refugees, said last week it would require visas for Iraqis entering the country for economic, trade and educational purposes starting Sept. 10 - a move some regard as an attempt to stem the flow of more than 30,000 Iraqi refugees streaming into the country every month.