I. INTRODUCTION
1. This paper replaces UNHCR's position regarding the international protection needs of asylum-seekers from Iraq, set out originally in UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers ("Eligibility Guidelines") and its Addendum to UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers ("Addendum"), issued in August and December 2007 respectively. While these documents may still be consulted for archival purposes, they are all hereby superseded accordingly.
2. In the papers mentioned above, UNHCR took the position that all asylum-seekers from the Central and Southern parts of Iraq were in need of international protection and should thus be considered as refugees under the 1951 Convention criteria. For those asylum-seekers from the Central and Southern Governorates whose evident need for protection might not be determined within the scope of the 1951 Convention refugee criteria, UNHCR recommended that they be recognized under the extended refugee definition, where applicable, or otherwise granted some form of complementary protection. This position was based on UNHCR's assessment that all asylum-seekers from Central and Southern Iraq were in need of international protection due to the pervasive extreme violence, serious human rights violations, and a general lack of law and order. As for the international protection needs of persons from the three Northern Governorates of Dahuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, UNHCR recommended that their asylum claims be individually assessed based on the 1951 Convention definition. In cases where an asylum-seeker was not recognized as a refugee under the 1951 Convention but nevertheless demonstrated protection needs for which complimentary forms of protection may be appropriate, it was recommended to assess the case accordingly.
3. The Addendum to the Eligibility Guidelines of December 2007 described developments in Iraq that started to re-shape the political and security landscapes at the end of 2007 and resulted in a reduction of civilian casualties and new displacement. Since then, the situation in Iraq has further evolved, with important improvements in the overall security situation in many parts of the country. In view of the totality of all these changes, a revision and update of UNHCR's position as summarized in the preceding paragraph has become necessary to reflect the situation at present.
4. This is the object of the present paper. In Part II which follows immediately below, a summary overview is provided of the key developments which have taken place since the Addendum and in light of which a new position needs to be set out. This overall new approach is then set out in Part III of the paper. Part IV of the paper provides a more detailed analytical breakdown of that approach and elaborates the applicability to the asylum claims being lodged by Iraqis in light of the relevant refugee law criteria, addresses possible situations of exclusion from refugee protection, examines the availability or not of internal flight or relocation alternatives in Iraq today, and underscores that the refugee status of Iraqis already recognized as such should continue to remain valid. While, in this analysis, the relevant country of origin information which supports this analysis will have been referred to accordingly in Part IV, the rest of the paper is then devoted to providing a detailed resume of that information. Part V thus outlines recent political developments in Iraq and Part VI recent security developments, while Part VII provides information on the human rights situation, all of which are relevant to understanding the nature and pattern of Iraqis who are forced to flee the country or could potentially lodge asylum claims. In this context, the final part of the paper, Part VIII, highlights groups which, in view of both the security and human rights situation described in the preceding parts, may be considered as being at risk in the Iraq of today.