After nearly a decade of trying to obtain legal residency in Germany, Mohammad Jalal was deported to the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, where he is now attempting to rebuild his life from scratch amid extreme poverty.
As European countries tighten their immigration policies with the rise of far-right politics, many states across the continent are deporting thousands of migrants who came from Iraq and the southern Mediterranean. Several European nations have entered into partnerships with Iraq—which has experienced relative stability after four decades of conflict—aimed at encouraging returns. These partnerships include reintegration programs such as vocational training to help returning migrants reintegrate into society.
Back in his hometown of Rania in Sulaymaniyah province, 39-year-old Jalal now lives with his elderly father in a cramped apartment where they sleep on thin foam mattresses on a concrete floor. Speaking to AFP in Kurdish, he says, “If there was a way to return to Europe, I would be ready to migrate again.” He adds, “If my asylum request were accepted in Germany, I could work officially in Kurdish restaurants… without needing to rely on government benefits.” In Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, however, he is currently unemployed.
Jalal’s migration journey began in 2015. He traveled to Istanbul, then to Izmir, where he boarded a boat to a Greek island. From there, he went to Athens, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, and finally Germany. He stayed in an asylum center in the country’s south and received around 300 euros per month in government aid. During winters—when inspections for undocumented work decreased—he sometimes traveled to Nuremberg, over 150 km north, and Munich, around 140 km south, to do “illegal work… for two or three months.”
No Need for Protection
After his asylum request was denied twice, German authorities deported him to Iraq in January 2024. He tried to open a bakery, but the venture failed. He then sold falafel for two months, earning about $7 a day. Today, he relies on $150 a month sent by relatives living in the UK.
In the last quarter of 2024, around 125,000 non-European individuals were ordered to leave EU countries—a 16.3% increase from the same period in 2023. The German Embassy in Baghdad told AFP that Berlin “in principle deports individuals who are required to leave the country.”
It explained, “There is no residency pathway for those who enter Germany irregularly hoping for a better life but do not require protection.” The embassy noted that Germany “has offered protection and asylum to millions fleeing war and violence over the past decade.”
Abu Bakr Ali, director of an NGO assisting returnees from Europe to Iraqi Kurdistan, said that up to 300 people were repatriated to Iraq in the first quarter of January 2025—mostly from Germany, with others from France and Scandinavian countries. The rights activist added, “We’ve always warned especially the youth that Europe is not the paradise they imagine. Returnees often have no place to sleep, no work, and no government support.”
Return and Reintegration
In recent years, Iraqi Kurdistan has lost many young people to the waters of the Mediterranean and English Channel, as they drowned in migrant boat tragedies. While the autonomous region promotes itself as a haven of stability, it suffers from economic challenges that leave young people with little hope. In 2021, youth unemployment (ages 15–24) was 37.2%, according to official data.
Despite its oil wealth, Iraq has achieved relative stability following decades of conflict and the rise of ISIS, which triggered mass displacement. Nevertheless, public policy remains weak and corruption widespread.
In Baghdad and Erbil, the German development agency GIZ operates two centers that provide professional training, psychosocial support, and help in starting small businesses for returnees. These centers are funded by Germany, Switzerland, and the European Union. Between June 2023 and May 2024, the centers provided “guidance and support” to about 350 returnees from Germany, the EU, and surrounding regions.
Some EU member states have signed bilateral “return and readmission” agreements with Iraq, while the EU is negotiating a similar agreement with Baghdad, according to EU Ambassador to Iraq Thomas Seiler. “For a long time now, some cities and towns in the EU have reached their limits in accommodating and integrating migrants,” Seiler told AFP, emphasizing the need to “prevent irregular migration.” He added that the EU supports initiatives in education, vocational training, and job creation with tens of millions of euros so that “Iraqis stay in Iraq.”
Europe "For Tourism"
In 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) sponsored the “voluntary return” of 1,577 Iraqis from over 20 countries, including Germany and Turkey. That same year, the Kurdish NGO Rwanga launched a reintegration program funded by Denmark and Finland. The organization also conducts awareness campaigns to reduce irregular migration.
Through this program, 120 individuals gained vocational skills and developed business plans. Fifteen received grants ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 euros. These projects often involve “construction, carpentry, mobile phone and electronics repair, retail, food services, and beauty services for women,” said Kamaran Shivan, Rwanga’s program director.
Shivan explained that many returnees had incurred debts in their bid to migrate—debts they now struggle to repay, lacking income or assets.
Among the grant recipients was 29-year-old Mohammad Ismail, who bought a share in a car repair workshop. He arrived in Germany in 2016, hoping to “improve his living conditions and gain European citizenship.” But after five years and eight months, “his goal was never achieved,” and he was not granted work authorization. He received about 320 euros a month in aid.
“One of the hardest experiences I went through was the waiting, especially after my application was rejected three times. I reached a point of despair,” he said from his workshop.
These factors pushed him to accept return to Iraq in April 2021, for which he received 500 euros from Berlin and a UN agency. Today, he earns about $550 a month and supports his wife and their three-year-old son. “For now, I don’t think of migrating again… maybe I’ll visit Europe someday just for tourism,” he said.
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