Iraq: COVID-19 Bulletin n°1 – CIQP (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Procedures) - 14 April 2020
COUNTRY BRIEF / COMPTE RENDU
Iraq was included in the United Nations’ 2020 COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP), with a Humanitarian Response Plan. The Humanitarian Response Plan for Iraq took note of the strong humanitarian leadership in the country as well as the local risks: “Iraq has a strong humanitarian leadership and coordination structure with a Humanitarian Coordinator leading the HCT and the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group… The humanitarian system is not sufficiently geared to focus response on epidemiology for displaced people or the wider population.”
AIRPORT STATUS / STATUT DES AEROPORTS
1. Airport / Flight restrictions (info dated 11 April; 28 March 2020).
As of 11 April 2020, the suspension of flights from and to the Republic of Iraq has been extended until 18 April 2020 and the situation will be reassessed according to the situation of the epidemic. As of 28 March 2020, the following airports are closed for all passenger flights due to COVID-19: Al Najaf (ORNI), Baghdad (ORBI), Basrah (ORMM), Erbil (ORER), Sulaymaniyah (ORSU). These restrictions do not apply to Red Cross, Medevac, Emergency, Military or Cargo flights. Iraqi Airways flights to Beijing and Guangzhou have been suspended.
2. Passengers / Quarantine (info dated 23 March 2020).
The authorities have banned the entry of travellers from Bahrain, China, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and Thailand. The entry ban is for travellers coming directly or indirectly from those countries but exempts Iraqi nationals, diplomats and official delegations. Iraqi nationals and residents who have visited these locations in the last 14 days prior to arrival will be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Travel of Iraqi citizens to the following countries is banned: China, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Italy, Kuwait and Bahrain, except foreigners, official and diplomatic delegations. All arrivals, coming from the above countries, are subject to compulsory medical examination on the border crossing.
