German state Thuringia is now the second in the nation to forbid the deportation of Yazidis, with a particular emphasis on Yazidi women and children. Thuringia has made the decision to stop sending people to Iraq until at least April.
Germany is home to the largest Yazidi diaspora community in the world, numbering over 200,000. Since the Islamic State (IS) overran the Sinjar Mountains in northern Iraq in 2014 and drove out the Yazidi community that had lived there for millennia, there has been a dramatic increase in the Yazidi population in Europe.
Last year, Germany formally declared the crimes carried out by IS against the Yazidis between 2014 and 2018 to be acts of genocide. The western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia was the only one to forbid the deportation of Yazidi minority members prior to Thuringia’s declaration.
Government statistics show that less than half of the Iraqi Yazidis living in Germany have had their refugee petitions fully recognized, even though the Yazidi genocide has been acknowledged. Out of the 4,706 asylum cases that Iraqi Yazidis filed in Germany, 2,420 have been rejected, and many more are still awaiting final decisions.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) granted asylum to 35,316 applicants in November 2023 alone, bringing the total number of applications approved annually to 304,581. The Federal Office completed 242,185 asylum cases during that time. Germany registered 325,801 asylum applicants between January and November 2023; this included 304,581 first-time applications and 21,220 second-time applications.
Tagged:GermanThuringiaYazidi deportations
Germany is home to the largest Yazidi diaspora community in the world, numbering over 200,000. Since the Islamic State (IS) overran the Sinjar Mountains in northern Iraq in 2014 and drove out the Yazidi community that had lived there for millennia, there has been a dramatic increase in the Yazidi population in Europe.
Last year, Germany formally declared the crimes carried out by IS against the Yazidis between 2014 and 2018 to be acts of genocide. The western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia was the only one to forbid the deportation of Yazidi minority members prior to Thuringia’s declaration.
Government statistics show that less than half of the Iraqi Yazidis living in Germany have had their refugee petitions fully recognized, even though the Yazidi genocide has been acknowledged. Out of the 4,706 asylum cases that Iraqi Yazidis filed in Germany, 2,420 have been rejected, and many more are still awaiting final decisions.
The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) granted asylum to 35,316 applicants in November 2023 alone, bringing the total number of applications approved annually to 304,581. The Federal Office completed 242,185 asylum cases during that time. Germany registered 325,801 asylum applicants between January and November 2023; this included 304,581 first-time applications and 21,220 second-time applications.
