AMMAN, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Jordan and Iraq will "work together to encourage thousands of Iraqis residing in the kingdom to return home," local newspaper the Jordan Times reported Wednesday.

    The report said that during a meeting between Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi and visiting Iraqi Vice President Tareq Hashemi on Tuesday, the two sides agreed to introduce "applicable measures" to ease procedures facing Iraqis who want to go back to their homes.

    "I am confident that the coming few days will witness Jordanian-Iraqi measures to facilitate the return of those who want to go back to Iraq," Hashemi was quoted as saying.

    The two sides also discussed the entry mechanism of Iraqis into Jordan.

    Iraqi officials have called on Jordan and Syria to apply a visa system, but Jordanian government said that the request was still under consideration.

    The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has estimated that more than 2 million Iraqis have fled their homeland for safety abroad to wait out the war, with more than 700,000 and 1.2 million spilling into neighboring Jordan and Syria respectively.

    According to the Jordanian government, the refugee influx is costing it around one billion U.S. dollars each year.