Damascus: Iraqi musician Abdel Razaq Al Ghazawi, who sought refuge in neighbouring Syria from his country's raging conflict, returned home last year after hearing about a fall in the violence.
Within weeks, disillusioned by Iraq's continued insecurity and what he saw as creeping intolerance, he crossed the border back to Syria where he scrapes a living as a refugee.
"I found out that security has not improved enough," said Al Ghazawi, who trained as an orchestra conductor in Britain.
"Artists and intellectuals no longer have a place in the new Iraq," said Al Ghazawi as he waited for his turn to collect rice and flour rations at a United Nations centre.
Al Ghazawi was one of millions who fled the upheaval ushered in by the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. The bulk of them went to Syria, which took in over a million Iraqi refugees, and Jordan, where up to 700,000 fled.
The US-backed government in Baghdad has called on those refugees to return and says most of them have already done so. But many are reluctant to go back and the numbers of returnees may not be as high as Iraq estimates.
Adan Al Sharifi, commercial attache at the Iraqi embassy in Damascus, said there were only 400,000 Iraqis left in Syria. Syrian government figures show 1.1 million Iraqis in Syria compared with 1.4 million before residency requirements were introduced in 2007.
"There is greater mobility and probably a large number has gone back, but people are keeping their options open and sizeable numbers of Iraqi refugees remain in Syria," said Laurens Jolles, the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees representative in Syria.
"Many people have gone through very traumatic experiences. Not everybody can go back to their lives in terms of living in the same neighbourhood or house," Jolles added.
He said more refugees could go back if the Iraqi government accelerated compensation for the returnees and access to their property. UNHCR has also advised the Iraqi government to establish one special agency to deal with the returnees, instead of the present myriad of departments.
Jolles said the number of Iraqis registered in Syrian schools fell sharply over the past year to 30,000, but refugees registered with UNHCR have grown steadily to over 224,000. Many others remained in Syria but were reluctant to sign up.
The refugee issue has deepened regional tensions, with Damascus saying the Iraqi government has done little to help its own citizens abroad.
The incomers have raised pressure on Syria's infrastructure, but also contributed to a consumer and property market boom.
Sharifi played down tensions, saying the number of refugees returning to Iraq was easing the pressure on their hosts in Damascus. Some of those who have not returned were waiting for the end of the school year, he added.
"There was a big movement back last year and we are expecting another big push after this school season ends."
Diplomats and international aid officials say returnee volumes are difficult to pin down and point out that the numbers crossing into Iraq daily roughly equal those exiting the country through border points with Jordan and Syria.
28-year-gap: Iiraqi envoy starts jobSyria's official news agency says President Bashar Al Assad has received the credentials of the Iraqi ambassador to the country, the first in 28 years. It says Ala'a Al Jawadi who was named ambassador on January 28 met with Al Assad on Monday.
Syria and Iraq restored diplomatic relations in November 2006, ending a 24-year break that began when Damascus accused Iraq of inciting riots in Syria in 1982.
At the time of their break, the two countries were ruled by rival factions of the Baath Party. Relations have recently improved. - AP
