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German court blocks deportation of four
Iraqi refugees
27.6.2008
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June
27, 2008
Liepzig, Germany, — A German federal
court has ruled that four Iraqi refugees cannot be
deported simply because Saddam Hussein is no longer
in power. An estimated 73,000 Iraqis live as
"tolerated persons" in Germany.
German authorities moved to revoke the four Iraqi
plaintiffs' refugee status after the fall of Saddam
Hussein and the US declaration of the end of combat.
But the plaintiffs argued that the ongoing violence
made it dangerous for them to return to Iraq. A
lower court had rejected the case, saying that Iraq
was not in the midst of a nationwide war, but rather
plagued by frequent, individual attacks.
The Liepzig court rejected the lower court ruling on
Thursday, June 26. A policy approved in Germany in
August 2007,www.ekurd.net
which was passed in
compliance with a European Union directive, offered
protection to Iraqis due to the serious security
risks they faced, the court ruled.
The EU law protects even those not considered
refugees under the Geneva Convention, but who "face
a serious potential threat if they return to their
country of origin," the court said in a statement.
The judges remanded the case to a court in the
southern city of Munich, which will determine
whether the four plaintiffs still qualify for asylum
under the EU directive.
Iraqis in Germany face uncertain future
The four Iraqi plaintiffs arrived in Germany between
1996 and 2004 and had applied for political asylum.
After their asylum petitions were denied, they faced
deportation.
The case has broad implications for Iraqi refugees
in Germany. Germany has revoked the refugee status
of more than 18,000 Iraqis since November 2003. An
additional 20,000 have been warned they could lose
asylum due to the "radical change" in Iraq since
Saddam's fall.
The Iraqis are considered "tolerated persons" who
could be deported at any point, do not have the
right to work and cannot bring their families to
Germany.
German authorities have said the refugees could
return to calmer regions of northern Iraq such as
autonomous Kurdistan region.
An estimated 73,000 Iraqis live in exile in Germany,
according to the United Nations. Amnesty
International has accused Western countries of
ignoring their responsibilities towards Iraqi
refugees, calling the security situation "dire."
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
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