Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani arrived in the capital Baghdad for his first visit following the fall of the previous Syrian regime.
The Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported that Syrian Foreign Minister al-Shibani arrived today, March 14, in Baghdad on an official visit and was welcomed by his Iraqi counterpart, Fouad Hussein, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
No further details about the visit were provided, and it was not reported by official Syrian sources at the time of the news release.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry announced on February 21 that al-Shibani had received an official invitation to visit the Republic of Iraq to discuss several common issues and to open a new chapter in relations between the two countries.
It was expected that the visit would take place immediately after the announcement; however, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not specify a date then and linked it to the completion of the agenda and the necessary technical consultations to determine an appropriate timing.
Uncertain relations
Relations between Baghdad and Damascus remain unformed following the fall of the regime, with the only recorded visit between the two sides having taken place on December 26, 2024, when the Iraqi intelligence chief, Hamid al-Shatri, visited Damascus.
Today’s visit comes amid multiple files between the two parties, the most recent being the issue of Syrian workers in Iraq and the attacks that Syrians have faced based on sectarianism and political stances.
Syrians have been subjected to beatings and harassment at their workplaces by a group calling itself “Ya Ali Popular Formations,” and some Syrians have been arrested for their comments regarding the recent events in the Syrian coastal region, which the Iraqi Interior Ministry deemed “incitement to sectarianism.”
For its part, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the assaults on Syrian citizens in Iraq and considered such acts a violation of human rights and international law.
On another note, Iraqi Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Ahmed al-Asadi, stated that the presence of Syrian labor in Iraq is illegal, with most having entered through smuggling or from the Kurdistan region.
In a televised discussion relayed by the ministry’s media office on March 13, he noted that Baghdad’s restaurants employ between 80% to 90% of Syrian workers.
Al-Asadi said, “We have decided to rectify the status of foreign labor, but the Syrians did not benefit from it because their entry into the country was not official.”
Iraq is hosting about 280,000 Syrians, the vast majority of whom reside in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Other files
Other issues are expected to be raised, including the Iraqis living in camps housing fighters from the Islamic State group and their families in northeastern Syria, as well as former regime officers residing in Iraq.
Approximately 167 families, totaling 618 Iraqi individuals, left the al-Hol camp in the al-Hasakah countryside of northeastern Syria to return to their country on February 23.
This was preceded by several batches, with the Iraqi Ministry of Immigration announcing on February 16 the return of 3,200 Iraqi families from the al-Hol camp after their members underwent security checks, noting that all returning children hold Iraqi citizenship.
Additionally, several officers from the former regime fled to Iraq during the military operations that ousted Bashar al-Assad’s rule in December 2024, and there has been talk of their involvement in planning military operations against the current government in Damascus.
Earlier, an Iraqi source denied to Al Jazeera the existence of any military activities by Syrian officers against the Syrian authority on its territory, indicating that there are around 130 officers, some of whom are high-ranking.