The U.N. refugee agency called on European governments on Friday to halt deportations of Iraqis, denouncing what it said was at least the third coordinated round of forced returns since April.

A chartered flight with up to 61 Iraqis who had been living in Britain, Denmark, Norway and Sweden landed at Baghdad airport on Wednesday, coinciding with the end of the U.S. combat operations in Iraq, it said. The UNHCR said it had unconfirmed reports that three of the 61 returnees were Iranian.

"We strongly urge European governments to provide Iraqis with protection until the situation in their areas of origin in Iraq allows for safe and voluntary returns," said Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The UNHCR has issued guidelines to all governments strongly recommending that Iraqis should not be sent home to five central provinces, including Baghdad, as those areas remain dangerous.

"Car explosions, roadside bombs, mortar attacks and kidnapping remain daily threats for Iraqis," Edwards told a news briefing. "In this critical time of transition, we also encourage all efforts to develop conditions in Iraq that are conducive to sustainable and voluntary return."

The United States is finishing its combat role at a time when political tensions in Iraq run high. Six months after an inconclusive election, major parties have yet to agree on the shape of a coalition government.

Roughly 50,000 U.S. soldiers still in Iraq are moving to an advisory role in which they will train and support Iraq's army and police. U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

The provinces of Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Nineveh and Salahuddin continue to be plagued by serious human rights violations and security incidents, according to the UNHCR.

"Our position is that Iraqi asylum applicants originating from these five governorates should benefit from international protection in the form of refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention or an alternative form of protection," Edwards said.

Deportations of Iraqis from Western Europe began last April and this is the third coordinated round which the UNHCR is aware of, according to UNHCR spokeswoman Sybella Wilkes. "It is only a matter of chance that we get informed," she told Reuters.

Some of the latest returnees may be destined for safer areas such as the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, while others may have elected to return voluntarily, according to UNHCR. It does not have prior access to the deportees in their host countries and has been able to interview only a few on return to Baghdad.

Jordan and Syria still host an estimated 1.6 million Iraqis who have fled violence and persecution, with another 50,000 in Lebanon, according to government figures provided to the UNHCR.

"We are certainly concerned about the message this gives to surrounding countries who need to continue to give the protection they have offered," Edwards said.

(Source: Reuters)