Kurdish immigrant commits suicide in Germany following deportation notice

13-05-2018
Rudaw
Tags: Germany immigration citizenship Ranyah
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Kurdish man from the Kurdistan Region has committed suicide after being given notice by German police that he would be deported. He had been trying to obtain citizenship for seven years.

Faraidun Salam Aziz, 35, was from Ranyah. He traveled to Germany seven years ago after many of his relatives emigrated. He died on May 1.

“Three brothers, a sister and the mother of Faraidun had migrated before, so Faraidun decided to migrate, but the bad treatment of him by Germany’s immigration department and the police frustrated him,” Bakir Mustafah, Faraidun’s uncle, told Rudaw.

He revealed that Faraidun had been in Germany for seven years, seeking citizenship, but he was kept waiting without a definitive answer.

“His social [security] salary was decreased, and the place where he lived was a shambles,” Mustafah said.

His nephew’s body will not be returned to Kurdistan. Instead he will be buried in Germany close to his family.

“Faraidun was a very peaceful guy. I knew him closely. After arriving in Germany he was psychologically tortured by the country’s racists. He had been rejected a number of times,” Bakir Bingirdy, head of Kurdish Immigrant’s Returning to Kurdistan Association, told Rudaw.

Faraidun had been given temporary residency, but was later stripped of it, Bingirdy revealed. Instead he was given a weekly residency permit, which had to be renewed every seven days.

“One week before committing suicide, the police notified Faraidun that he no longer has the right to remain in Germany and that they will deport him. This ruined his psychological state,” Bingirdy said.

Shakir Yassin, head of the immigration bureau at the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)’s interior ministry, says his department was unaware of Faraidun’s suicide. He said the department will follow up on the case and bring his body back if his family requests it.

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