The European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) revealed in a press release that European Union member states and associated countries received more than a million asylum applications in the previous year. Among these applications were over 26,000 from Iraqis. The EUAA, an agency responsible for supporting EU countries in applying asylum laws, international protection, and reception conditions. The EUAA stated that the total number of asylum applications reached a peak in the past seven years. Syrians remained the largest group of asylum applicants. Followed by Afghans, although there was a notable decrease in Afghan applications compared to 2022. Towards the end of the year, there was also a rise in applications from Palestinians.
Out of the 1.14 million asylum applications received by the European Union and associated countries in 2023, slightly over 26,000 originated from Iraqis. The majority of these applications were lodged in Germany, accounting for 43% of the total. Greece received 24% of the Iraqi applications. Meanwhile smaller percentages were reported in countries such as the Netherlands, Sweden. , Austria,. Belgium,. Finland,. France, Bulgaria,. Italy, and others. It is worth noting that the number of applications from Iraq includes those lodged by citizens of the Kurdistan Region.
Furthermore, in 2023, approximately 20,000 people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region migrated out of the country. At least nine individuals lost their lives while attempting to traverse dangerous and illegal smuggling routes. According to a statement from a refugee foundation provided in late December.
Since 2015, more than 760,000 individuals have migrated from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The lowest number of migrants during this period was reported in 2023, with 19,500 individuals leaving, according to a representative from the Summit (Lutka) Foundation for Refugees and Displaced Affairs who spoke to Rudaw in December.The number of migrants for 2023 is significantly lower than the figure for 2022, when Lutka recorded over 71,000 migrants.
The foundation also reported at least nine migrant deaths over the past year and stated that the whereabouts of at least two others are unknown.Each year, tens of thousands of people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region risk dangerous routes to Europe in an attempt to escape ongoing crises such as unemployment, political instability, and corruption in their home country.
In December 2023, a boat carrying over 60 migrants capsized in the English Channel off the coast of France, resulting in the deaths of at least two individuals, including a 22-year-old Kurdish man from Sulaimani province’s Raparin administration.
