Title Guidelines on the Treatment of Iraqi Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Europe
Publisher European Council on Refugees and Exiles
Publication Date April 2007
Country Iraq
Citation / Document Symbol PP2/04/2007/extSHPC
Other Languages / Attachments Russian
Cite as European Council on Refugees and Exiles, Guidelines on the Treatment of Iraqi Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Europe, April 2007, PP2/04/2007/extSHPC, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/46286f162.html [accessed 27 May 2023]
Comments Through these Guidelines, ECRE urges European countries to do all they can to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Iraq and help share the responsibility with countries in the region by:
* Ensuring access to Europe, including entry at borders, for displaced Iraqis and other third country nationals fleeing the violence in Iraq, so they may seek asylum;
* Giving all Iraqi asylum claimants in Europe the opportunity to lodge an asylum application and have it processed with minimum delay, respecting procedural safeguards;
* Refraining from applying an Internal Protection Alternative to Iraqi asylum seekers originating from any part of Iraq;
* Not transferring people under the EU's Dublin II Regulation, if it is known that the country does not properly consider Iraqi asylum claims or that there are protection concerns with respect to the treatment of Iraqi asylum claims;
* Suspending any forced or mandatory returns of Iraqis to any part of Iraq, including the Kurdish Regional Government controlled area in northern Iraq;
* Granting Iraqi asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected a legal status (temporary or permanent depending on their circumstances), which affords them their human rights and a dignified standard of living in the host country including entitlement to housing, health, employment, and education, in order to prevent them becoming destitute; and
* Offering a significant number of resettlement places in Europe for Iraqi refugees in the region deemed in need of resettlement according to UNHCR's criteria, through existing resettlement programmes or on an ad hoc basis, either individually by countries or collectively throughout the European Union.

These guidelines also aim to give an up to date overview of the current situation in Iraq including guidance on which groups of people within Iraq are at particular risk of persecution.
DisclaimerThis is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.