ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nearly 22,000 Iraqi nationals are legally obliged to leave Germany after their asylum claims were rejected, although the vast majority have been granted temporary protection from immediate deportation, Germany’s migration office said on Saturday.
Responding to questions from Rudaw’s Osamah Mohammed via email, the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees said that "there were 21,869 Iraqi nationals required to leave Germany, of whom 19,382 had been granted temporary suspension of deportation 'Duldung' and 2,487 had not," noting that deportation orders follow rejected asylum claims, though local state authorities handle enforcement if individuals do not leave voluntarily.
A Duldung - tolerated stay in German - temporarily suspends deportation, but the legal requirement to leave the country remains active.
“Following a negative decision from the Federal Office, the relevant foreigners authorities must assess whether there are any obstacles to deportation (e.g. inability to travel) and may issue a 'Duldung',” the migration office stated, adding that “the relevant authority also decides on the duration and, where applicable, any extension of a Duldung.”
The Kurdistan Region and Iraq have seen repeated waves of youth migration over the past decade, largely driven by unemployment, economic hardship, and the search for better opportunities abroad.
Earlier last month, 33 young Kurdish migrants detained in Libya were repatriated to the Kurdistan Region.
Days after their repatriation, 10 other Kurdish migrants from the Kurdistan Region’s eastern Sulaimani province were reported missing in Libya while attempting to reach Europe, their families told Rudaw last month, urging the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to locate them and secure their return.
Three Kurdish migrants also died in France last month, including one who was killed, Europe-based migrant rights activist Ranj Pishdari reported.
According to the German migration office, 2,647 Iraqi nationals filed asylum applications in Germany during the first eight months of 2026. Over the same period, authorities issued decisions on 5,162 Iraqi asylum claims, rejecting 2,654 of them, according to data from Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
The remaining 2,508 decisions were split between 1,241 individuals who were granted some form of legal protection - including refugee status, subsidiary protection, and deportation bans - and 1,267 cases that were closed through other procedural conclusions.
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