Berlin: Germany deported 50 people to Iraq on Tuesday, on a flight from Dusseldorf airport, authorities said. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Refugee Ministry disclosed that 26 of the deportees had criminal convictions. The deportation flights have sparked controversy due to the ongoing tense security situation in Iraq, stemming from decades of conflict and political unrest.
According to Ghana News Agency, among the passengers on the Baghdad-bound deportation flight were seven Yezidis. The Yezidi minority has faced severe persecution, particularly during the reign of the Islamic State group, which controlled significant parts of Iraq. In 2023, Germany’s Bundestag officially recognized the atrocities committed against the Yezidis by the Islamic State in 2014 as genocide.
North Rhine-Westphalia had previously suspended deportations of Yezidi women and girls until June 2024. However, the ministry stated on Tuesday that its legal avenues to halt the deportations had been exhausted. It urged the federal government to take measures to provide protection for the Yezidis.
This recent deportation flight is not an isolated occurrence. Earlier in the year, in July, 43 individuals were deported from Leipzig to Baghdad, and in February, 47 people were deported from Hanover. The Federal Interior Ministry reported that Germany deported a total of 816 Iraqi nationals in 2024. While some were relocated to other EU countries responsible for their asylum processes, 615 individuals were directly sent back to Iraq.