[2] Between 2010 and 2019, Germany granted around 70% of Iraqi asylum applications, although most of these are subject to regular review.

[4] The country is already home to a sizeable Iraqi population, many of whom were granted protection by the German authorities after fleeing persecution from Saddam Hussein’s former regime.

[5] However, Germany has adopted another policy towards Iraqi refugees which has distinguished it from all other EU states, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior has taken the unique step of systematically revoking the refugee status of thousands of Iraqis who were granted protection before 2003.

Since the threat of persecution from the Iraqi Ba’ath regime is no longer present, 18,000 Iraqi refugees who entered the country before the 2003 invasion have thus had their refugee status revoked, placing them in a situation of uncertainty and precariousness.

In June 2007, the German government asked the asylum authorities to temporarily suspend the revocation of refugee status for certain groups of Iraqis, such as those from Baghdad, single women, and members of religious or ethnic minorities such as Iraqi Assyrians.