SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq, 9 July 2006 — Iraqi Arabs seeking to escape the violence sweeping their homeland need special permission to stay in Kurdistan — a clear sign of how separate Kurdish areas are becoming from the rest of the country.

Kurdish officials insist the permits, which were imposed in 2004, are necessary to prevent violence from spreading to their three northern provinces, which have enjoyed self-rule since 1991. But many Iraqi Arabs fear the measures are a step toward establishment of an independent Kurdish state — despite denials by Kurdish officials. Iraqi Arabs who want to stay in the three provinces of Kurdistan for more than 10 days must obtain a residence permit from special police. To get one, they need a local Kurd to vouch for them.

For Arabs traveling alone, the permit must be renewed every month. For families, the permit is good for three months.

Even for short stays, procedures can be complicated. At the Bani Makkam checkpoint along Kurdistan’s border, motorists who are not from the region must surrender their car papers and receive a special permit allowing them to operate the vehicle in Kurdish areas for 10 days. When they leave, they surrender the permit and get their car papers back. Arab visitors are screened at checkpoints to make sure their names do not appear on lists of known insurgents and must explain the purpose of their visit.

Such measures can be irritating for Iraqis who believe they should have the right to travel freely within their own country.

“My little daughter was crying in the car from the heat. They made me wait for half an hour so far,” complained Ali Haidar, 57. “I feel I am going to a different country. I will spend few days and leave and never come back again.”

Even Iraqi Arab officials are subject to controls. Recently, a delegation of the largest Sunni Arab political party, including three members of Parliament, nearly missed their connecting flight from Irbil to Turkey as they waited for clearance to enter Kurdistan, one of them said.

“We told the officer in charge that we are an official delegation and showed him our identity cards and official documents. But still he treated us in a very rude way, saying he was just following orders,” said Ammar Wajih of the Iraqi Islamic Party.

Special controls were imposed after the Feb. 1, 2004 twin suicide attacks against two political party offices in Irbil that killed 109 people. The Sunni militant group Ansar Al-Sunnah claimed responsibility.

Although the measures are not new, complaints are on the rise as thousands of Arabs head north to escape the sweltering summer heat of Baghdad and other areas. In Kurdistan, they can wile away night time hours in restaurants and stroll city streets without fears of car bombs and drive-by shootings. “I came with my family to Sulaimaniyah to forget the problems, explosions and sectarian war,” said Khaled Hussein, an Arab, who arrived from Baghdad with his wife and three children for a short vacation. “We wanted to take a breath of fresh air for a few days.”

Thousands of Arabs from other parts of the country are now flocking to Kurdistan, many of them seeking jobs. The relative calm of Kurdistan has helped promote a construction boom with hotels, offices, villas and high-rise apartment buildings going up at a frenzied pace.