New York:Thousands of Iraqis in Syria,afraid of being deported back to their conflict-torn country, are seekingrefugee status from the United Nations which would allow them to remain in thecountry they have taken refuge in.

The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)Laurens Jolles said they had not expected a huge crowd and that all staff, downto drivers, were busy distributing applications and scheduling interviews.

More than 5000 Iraqis queued up outside the office of the refugee agencyyesterday.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres during his recent visit to Syriahad received had a pledge from the Syrians that they would not deport anyoneagainst his or her will but the Iraqis were not convinced.

"The huge crowd we have seen over the last two days is an example of howIraqis are worried and anxious about their stay in Syria and the need to be reassuredwith regards to their residence permits," Jolles said.

UNHCR has significantly increased its capacity to register the thousands ofIraqis approaching the Damascusoffice and created three hotline numbers that Iraqis can ring if they or theirimmediate family members are facing deportation.

"We are approaching UNHCR because we are 5so afraid that we will bedeported back to Iraq as our visas expired and they [the Syrian government]want us to leave for Iraq for one month," one Iraqi man waiting in thequeue said.