Sudanese Iraqis came to Iraq in the 20th century as workers, as the Sudanese had to various countries of the Persian Gulf. Research in the 1980s indicated that "almost all" the Sudanese in Iraq identified themselves as "skilled labourers, mechanics, electricians, welders, carpenters, etc",. while other researchers note that towards the end of the 1980s there were 250,000-300,000 Sudanese in Iraq, 3,000 of them in the Iraqi Army. During the

2003 Iraq invasion The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, Sudanese Iraqis were among the many " third country refugees" who fled Iraq to refugee camps in Jordan.

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

later criticised the

International Organisation for Migration The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations agency that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers. The IOM was ...

for allowing Sudanese diplomats from Amman to enter the camps and speak with Sudanese-origin persons, stating such was a breach of international refugee law, particularly as some of these same refugees may previously have fled Sudan.

References

{{Sudan-ethno-group-stub Ethnic groups in Iraq Iraqi people of African descent Sudanese diaspora African diaspora in the Middle East

See also

References