Too soon to encourage Iraqis to return home: UNHCR

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday it was too soon to encourage Iraqis to return to their homeland, although limited numbers have gone back from Syria after their money or visas ran out.

Roughly 1,500 Iraqi refugees were returning home each day from Syria, against 500 new arrivals, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. It could not confirm Iraqi government reports that 46,000 Iraqis had returned from Syria in October.

"We welcome improvements to the security conditions and stand ready to assist people who have decided or will decide to return voluntarily. However, UNHCR does not believe that the time has come to promote, organize or encourage returns," spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva.

A large-scale repatriation program would only be possible when proper conditions were met, including legal and material support and the physical safety of the refugees, she said.

"At the moment there is no sign of any large-scale return to Iraq as the security situation in many parts of the country remains volatile and unpredictable," Pagonis said.

A bomb hidden in a box of birds killed 13 people and wounded 57 at a popular pet market in central Baghdad on Friday, police and witnesses said. It was the deadliest attack in the Iraqi capital in two months.

Some 2.3 million Iraqis are displaced within Iraq while 2.2 million have fled abroad, mainly to Syria (1.5 million) and Jordan (some 500,000-700,000).

A UNHCR survey of 110 Iraqi families in Syria found that most said they were going home "because they are running out of money and/or resources, face difficult living conditions or because their visas have expired," Pagonis said.

Visa restrictions recently imposed by Syria mean Iraqi refugees have been unable to shuttle back and forth between the two countries to get additional resources, make money or collect food or pensions, according to the UNHCR.

Incentives of some $700-800 offered by the Iraqi government to return home, as well as free bus and plane rides, had also played a role in returns.

"This is the first time in recent years that Iraqi refugees are actually discussing return, which was not the case a few months ago," Pagonis said.