Abubakr Ali, the head of a Kurdistan Region refugee association, told Rudaw that over 200 refugees were deported from Germany in the past two months, stressing that migration to Europe has decreased but remains at an unsatisfactory level.
“Refugees who return or are deported face many problems, and some of them remain in the streets without shelter,” he lamented.
Ali noted that most of the deported refugees are from the Kurdistan Region’s Badinan area. “Britain and other European countries have also deported many Kurdish refugees,” he said.
“Those who return to Kurdistan also face other challenges, such as a lack of housing, not being welcomed properly by their families, and lack of job opportunities,” he explained.
Germany hosts one of the largest refugee populations worldwide. In late January, the German parliament passed a motion that tightened migration rules. It contains five points: preventing illegal immigration, deporting illegal immigrants, deporting foreign criminals, imprisoning immigrants who must leave Germany, and ending family reunification.
Tens of thousands of mostly young people leave Iraq and the Kurdistan Region for Europe annually in search of a better life, using smuggling routes. Many hope to settle in Germany.
