Amnesty urges open door policy for Iraqis

IRELAND should keep its doors open to asylum seekers trying to escape the horrors of Iraq, Amnesty International has urged.

The human rights group called on all European Governments and Middle Eastern states to give Iraqis a sympathetic hearing, despite claims by the United States that Iraq is now stable.

Iraq barely registered on the list of countries producing asylum seekers who arrived in Ireland up until the US invasion in 2003, but in 2006 one in 20 of all asylum applicants here was Iraqi.