Yazidi Deportations Suspended in Thuringia, Second German State to Do So

Thuringia, a state in Germany, has recently made a significant decision regarding the deportation of Yazidis, becoming the second region in the country to implement a ban on such deportations. Specifically, Thuringia has announced a suspension of deportations of Yazidi women and minors to Iraq, with the ban set to remain in place until at least April.

This decision is a response to the unique plight of the Yazidi community, with Germany being home to over 200,000 Yazidis, making it the largest Yazidi diaspora community in the world. The growth of the Yazidi population in Europe can be traced back to 2014, when the extremist organization Islamic State (IS) invaded the Sinjar Mountains in northern Iraq, displacing the Yazidi community that had lived there for centuries.

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The atrocities committed by IS against the Yazidi community from 2014 to 2018 were officially recognized as genocide by Germany last year. As a result of this recognition, some regions within Germany have taken steps to protect the Yazidi community, such as imposing bans on their deportation.

Before Thuringia’s announcement, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany was the only region to impose a ban on the deportation of members of the Yazidi minority. Despite this official recognition of the Yazidi genocide, less than half of Iraqi Yazidis in Germany have had their asylum claims fully accepted, leading to protests and concerns among the community.

With the decline of IS influence in Iraq, fewer Iraqi Yazidis have been able to secure asylum in Germany. In 2022, only approximately 48.6 per cent of Yazidis were granted asylum, according to data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA).

Germany, identified as the main destination for asylum seekers within the EU+, received around 244,000 applications out of nearly one million submitted to EU+ countries in 2022, highlighting the significant impact of the country’s asylum policies on the broader European context.

Overall, the ban on deportations of Yazidis by Thuringia is a step towards protecting this vulnerable community, and sheds light on the ongoing challenges faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Germany and across Europe.