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Out-of-Date Passports Strand Iraqi Expats

New requirements catch innocent victims in snare for terrorists

By Heather McPherson,  Newser User

Posted Jul 24, 2007 4:23 PM CDT

(Newser) – In an unintended consequence of regulations meant to hinder terrorists, Iraqi expats are stuck with out-of-date passports and no way to replace them. Iraq now issues documents that meet international standards, the Wall Street Journal reports, but emigres and refugees stuck with Saddam-era passports or handwritten documents that date to the US invasion have no way to get replacements.

No system to get new passports to Iraqi citizens living abroad exists. Applicants must go through embassies in London and Jordan, which can take months. Meanwhile, when an Iraqi living in the US requests a passport, the country uses the obsolete style that no longer meets American security standards—ensuring the traveler won't be allowed to reenter the country.

Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim, shows his passport as he speaks...
Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim, shows his passport as he speaks...   (Getty Images)
Iraqi refugees protest outside the United Nations' headquarters...
Iraqi refugees protest outside the United Nations' headquarters...   (Getty Images)
Iraqi border officials stamp a passport into Iraq at the border post with Syria in the town of Husaybah, December 21, 2003. The U.S. military is conducting operations looking for foreign fighters tryi
Iraqi border officials stamp a passport into Iraq at the border post with Syria in the town of Husaybah, December 21, 2003. The U.S. military is conducting operations looking for foreign fighters tryi   (KRT Photos)
Abu Nidal's Fake Iraqi Passport
Abu Nidal's Fake Iraqi Passport   (Getty Images)
A fake Dutch passport is displayed by a police officer in a police station in Lima, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. Seven Iraqi citizens with false passports they planned to use to travel to the United States have been arrested in a Lima suburb, a police official said Tuesday. (AP Photo/STR)
A fake Dutch passport is displayed by a police officer in a police station in Lima, Tuesday, July 17, 2007. Seven Iraqi citizens with false passports they planned to use to travel to the United States...   (Associated Press)
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