UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

Governorate of Sulaymaniyah
Persons not originating from the Region of Kurdistan must have a sponsor 836 who should
accompany the person/family to the Residency Section in the Security Department.
Doctors, owners of companies/restaurants and university teachers are currently exempted
from the sponsorship requirement. IDPs with a sponsor are requested to fill out an
information card upon arrival with the following information:
- Place of residence;
- Name of sponsor;
- Personal data (name, age, etc.).
He/she will have to undergo a security screening in which the reasons for relocation are
investigated. Provided the person is not considered a security risk, he/she will be granted
a quasi residency permit for 3-6 months, which is subject to extension.
Persons who do not have a sponsor are denied a quasi residency permit and are requested to
leave the Governorate or are otherwise forcibly removed. 837 Persons originating from
Kirkuk or Khanaqeen, including Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and members of other ethnic or
religious groups, are not able to obtain a quasi residency permit for demographic and
political reasons.
Governorate of Erbil
Persons not originating from the Region of Kurdistan need to have a sponsor, who should
accompany the person/family to the Residency Section in the Security Department. Persons
without a sponsor will not be able to obtain a quasi residency permit. The IDPs are
requested to fill out an information card upon arrival with the following information:
- Place of residence;
- Name of sponsor;
- Personal data (name, age, etc.).
He/she will have to undergo a security screening investigating the reasons for relocation.
Applicants for a quasi residence permit must establish either political links to the region or
that they have fled violence or persecution; otherwise applications for a quasi residence
836 The sponsor could be an individual person or a company. The responsibility of the sponsor is to inform
authorities that he/she knows the IDP and, in case of security-related incidents, the sponsor will be
questioned. The sponsor should have his/her food ration card issued in the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah and
have a good reputation.
837 Awene website / Sulaymaniyah, No. 46, 28 November 2006 (in Sorani Kurdish), reported that 42 Iraqi
Arabs, who were working in Bazyan Cement Factory, were detained on 26 November 2006 by Chamchamal
Security Forces in order to be returned to their places of origin outside the Region of Kurdistan given that
they had entered the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah without sponsorship and without registering with the
security forces. The head of the Chamchamal Security Directorate, Muqadam Ahmad Nadr, told Awene that
the arrested people had come to Chamchamal (sub-District in Sulaymaniyah Governorate) without the
knowledge of the security forces, adding that “any Arab residing in Chamchamal need[s] to report their
presence to the authorities.”
167