"The regulations effectively mean there is no longer a safe place outside for Iraqis fleeing persecutions and violence," the agency's spokesperson, Ron Redmond, told reporters in Geneva. "An estimated 2,000 Iraqis flee their homes daily inside the country, so we are increasingly concerned about their fate as their options for safety are reduced," he said.

According to the Iraqi Embassy in Damascus, about 15,000 Iraqis cross the Syrian border daily.

Although the Syrian authorities have not yet published specifications for the visa restrictions, they said only certain professional categories traveling to Syria for commerce, education, science and transport would be an exception.

Syria has already assured the UN that Damascus would not force those Iraqis who had already entered the country visa-free to return home.

Over 1.4 million Iraqi refugees have so far fled to Syria, the only Arab country in the region to have provided unfettered access to Iraqis since the start of the war.

Many former professionals now live in poverty, having depleted their savings and sold off their possessions. As refugees, most are not permitted to seek employment. - RIA Novosti