The EUAA, an agency of the EU mandated with supporting EU countries in applying EU laws governing asylum, international protection and reception conditions, announced in a press release on Thursday EU and associated countries received a total of 1.14 million asylum applications, marking a peak in the past seven years. Syrians maintained their position as primary asylum applicants, followed by Afghans, despite there being a significant decrease in asylum applications lodged by Afghans compared to 2022. The agency also noted that there was a rise in applications from Palestinians towards the end of the year.
Of the 1.14 million asylum applications EU and associated countries received in 2023, slightly over 26,000 were lodged by Iraqis, the majority of which, in Germany. Forty-three percent of Iraq applications (11,280) were lodged in Germany, 24% percent in Greece and lower percentages in the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Bulgaria, Italy as well as other countries.
The number of Iraqi applications includes those lodged by citizens of the Kurdistan Region.
Around 20,000 people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region migrated out of the country in 2023, with at least nine of them losing their lives on the dangerous and illegal smuggling routes, a refugee foundation told Rudaw in late December.
Over 760,000 people have migrated from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region since 2015, with the lowest number during that period being recorded in 2023 with 19,500 migrants, a representative of Summit (Lutka) Foundation for Refugees and Displaced Affairs told Rudaw in December.
The number of migrants for 2023 is significantly lower than the data for 2022, during which Lutka recorded over 71,000 migrants. The foundation also reported at least nine migrant deaths over the past year, adding that the whereabouts of at least two others remain unknown.
Tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region take on perilous routes out of the country towards Europe on a yearly basis in hopes of escaping the endless crises in the country, including the lack of employment, political instability, and corruption.
At least two people, including a 22-year-old Kurdish man from Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration, died when a boat carrying over 60 migrants capsized in the English Channel off the coast of France in December 2023.
