Unfulfilled expectations mean many Iraqi migrants to Europe return home

Rudaw
 ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Thousands of Iraqi war migrants who fled to Europe have returned due to unfulfilled expectations, unsatisfactory living conditions and the difficulties of seeking asylum, said a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“The main reported sources of disappointment and frustration were the length and unpredictability of the asylum-seeking requests, followed by the living conditions (highly dependent on the reception system in place in the specific country of destination),” said the report, released this week.


“Receiving a residency permit is not as easy as expected. Waiting times are really long,” the report quoted one returnee as saying.

 

“Migrants are shocked because life in the country of destination is completely different from their expectations,” another returned migrant IOM.

 

According to the report, “IOM assisted nearly 8,000 Iraqi nationals who voluntarily returned to their country from Europe between January 2015 and April 2016.”

 

The study was based on 14 focus group discussions with 86 Iraqis who migrated to Europe in 2015 and subsequently returned to Iraq.

 

The focus group discussions for the qualitative study were conducted between March and April 2016 in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

 

Originally, the participants had left for “lack of security (general and personal), perceived lack of equality and social justice, and political instability,” the report noted.

 

Economic instability was also mentioned as a reason but was considered to be more of a “secondary” concern when compared to security concerns in Baghdad.

 

Therefore, the reasons for choosing Europe as a new home had to do with “perceived security, equality and social justice,” according to the report.

 
“Europe an attractive destination at the time of leaving Iraq, namely around August 2015, was a combination of need and opportunity: the decision to emigrate matured while the situation in Iraq deteriorated, alternatives dwindled and the journey became more feasible,” the report said.

 

According to a report in May by the Danish Refugee Council, migration of Iraqis into Europe is ongoing but has dropped overall.

 

“The actual number of Iraqis arriving in Greece has dropped by 59 percent between April and May 2016, part of a decline likely attributable to the implementation of the EU-Turkey Agreement on March 20, 2016,” the report said.

 

Greece has been the gateway to Europe for many of the migrants from Iraq and Syria.