The US military is expressing concern that the Iraqi government is unprepared to deal with a mass return of refugees to Baghdad despite declining violence.
The fears raised echoed a warning by the chief UN humanitarian organization that it was too early to promote returns as the security situation in the country remained volatile.
Starved for good news, the Shiite-led government has pressed ahead with efforts to draw Iraqis home in a move that has created a flow of returnees, particularly from the neighboring country of Syria.
About 20 buses carrying hundreds of Iraqi refugees arrived in Baghdad from Syria late on Wednesday, the first results of a government-funded effort aimed at exploiting growing public confidence that Iraq was finally on the road to stability.
But many of those returning face an uncertain future, however, with houses occupied by members of the rival Islamic sect or burned to the ground during the violence that has changed the religious character of entire neighborhoods and left the capital a maze of concrete walls.
US military officials said the situation raised alarm bells as the government had not issued word on how it planned to deal with disputes arising from the returns as well as other related issues.
"This is a major concern. The government of Iraq doesn't have a policy yet," said Colonel Bill Rapp, a senior aide to General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq. "We have been asking, pleading with the government of Iraq to come up with a policy."
He said during a media briefing on Wednesday that one option was building new housing for those who return to find their homes gone.
Satar Nawrouz, the spokesman for Iraq's Ministry of Migration and Displacement, said suggested policies for helping to reintegrate refugees into their communities had been presented to the government.
"One of these proposals is setting regulations for easing the process of reemploying the returnees in governmental departments and accepting their children in Iraq schools," Nawrouz said, without elaborating.
Iraqi National Security Minister Sherwan al-Waili, who met the convoy on Wednesday, also said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would give each returning family 1 million Iraqi dinars (US$750) to get started rebuilding their lives.
No comprehensive numbers have been released on the numbers of Iraqis returning home after fleeing as retaliatory violence spiraled in Baghdad after the bombing of a revered Shiite shrine in the northern city of Samarra in February last year.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that "around 600 Iraqis have left Syria each day this week, although not all are refugees." Officials in Iraq and Syria have said more than 46,000 refugees returned in October and the flow has continued this month.
Many Iraqis have headed back on their own from Syria and elsewhere as extremist attacks have fallen sharply in Baghdad and other areas. The move also has been prompted by tighter visa rules in Syria and poor job opportunities that have left many of the refugees impoverished.
Abdul-Khaliq Mohammed, a 49-year-old father of six, left his predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad for Syria more than a year ago to escape violence. He returned when relatives said life was improving.
"I still have doubts about the current calm in Baghdad, but no matter what happens, even if the security situation gets bad again, I have no intention of going back to Syria, where life was very difficult and expensive to us," he said.
The military is largely taking an advisory role on the issue but is pressing the government to develop more specific policies to take care of people coming back and to avoid forced evictions.
"Right now we're watching and waiting," said Colonel Cheryl Smart, a military strategy officer.
"We're working with the government of Iraq so they can be prepared," Smart said.
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