Iraq has refused to issue visas to nearly 300 United Nations staff and consultants hired to work on electrical systems and mine clearance projects in the Kurdish-dominated north, UN officials have said.
The delays have cost the UN oil-for-food humanitarian programme for Iraq at least $4 million (2.8 million pounds), a figure expected to increase by $450,000 a month because of contracts signed with individuals or firms, UN officials said.
All together, some 288 visa applications have been "on hold" since October, according to Mr Benon Sevan, executive director of the UN humanitarian program for Iraq.
"They have been held up so long that I no longer consider them delays but rejections," Mr Sevan said today.
The largest number, 149, is for the UN Development Program while the UN Office for Project Services has 103 applications that have not been acted on, UN figures show.
About 90 per cent of the delayed visas are for workers in the northern part of Iraq, where the oil-for-food program is run by the United Nations rather than the Baghdad government. But Iraq still has to issue visas for UN personnel and their consultants working there.