Iraq travel advisory – Ministry of External Affairs gives green signal for travel to Iraq

There is a new Iraq travel advisory for Indian travellers as published by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The advisory suggests that now Indians can travel to Iraq, barring five provinces as they are still in turmoil.
According to the advisory issued by the MEA, there has been an improvement in the security situation in Iraq, and hence Indians can travel to the country. The five provinces that are barred from travel are Ninevah, Salahuddin, Diyala, Anbar, and Kirkuk.

According to reports, the MEA has asked Indian travellers planning to travel to Iraq for work to register on E-migrate portal of the Government of India, and also to inform the Indian Embassy at Baghdad or the Consulate General at Erbil beforehand.

India had issued a travel advisory back in June, 2014, asking its citizens to leave Iraq and not to travel to the country after the Islamic State (IS) took control of parts of Iraq. 46 Indian nurses were taken hostage by ISIS at Mosul that year.

Currently, Iraq has about 10000 to 12000 Indians residing in the country, and a large number of Indian travellers visit Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, and Samarrah for pilgrimage every year.