The Qassim family is fighting for asylum: fear of deportation to Iraq!

The Qassim family is fighting for asylum: fear of deportation to Iraq!

The situation of the Yazidi Qassim family in Germany shines a bright light on the challenges that many refugees face. The family survived the genocide committed by the Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq in the summer of 2014 and fled to Germany, where they have lived in the small town of Lychen, Brandenburg, since 2022. Today the family is fighting for their right to stay after their asylum application was rejected. Loud rbb24 The family was classified as “economic refugees” even though they fled the atrocities.

The Qassims consist of parents Saeed and Gazi and their four children, who have now integrated well after the effort of fleeing. Eleven-year-old Maatz speaks German better than Kurdish, goes to school and is active in a sports club. But behind this facade of normality lurks the fear of possible deportation. The family has filed a lawsuit against the negative decision from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), as the BAMF accused them of coming to Germany for “motives unrelated to asylum.”

An increase in deportations

Germany's recognition of ISIS's crimes against the Yazidis as genocide in January 2023 should actually be a ray of hope. Nevertheless, the Qassims remained excluded from this recognition. An agreement between Germany and Iraq to facilitate deportations, signed in recent months, has made the situation even worse. The number of deportations of Yazidis has increased since then, and Brandenburg has not yet decided on a temporary ban on deportations. Although the Brandenburg Ministry of the Interior assures that repatriations of Yazidis will be carefully examined, the constant fear of deportation remains.

But the Yazidis' worries don't end with the Qassims. Loud BR The reports of deportations are worrying: In October 2023, a Yazidi family with four underage children was deported to Iraq, with one of the children suffering from asthma. Such incidents not only excite those affected, but also many human rights activists, who sharply criticize the federal government's deportation practices. Human rights activist Düzen Tekkal demands that the federal government fulfill its mandate to protect the Yazidis.

The need for protection and support

The situation is precarious for the over 250,000 Yazidis in Germany. Many make important contributions to society, such as as caregivers, and their lives continue to be overshadowed by the threat of deportation. Reports of the inadequate processing of asylum applications and the associated challenges are alarming. In 2024, only around 36 percent of asylum applications from Yazidis from Iraq received protection status. An easing of deportation practices seems unlikely in the near future, even under the extreme conditions that continue to prevail in Iraq.

The Qassims are now eagerly awaiting a decision from the Potsdam Administrative Court, while the father of the family, Saeed Qassim, expresses his desire to build a new life in Germany and find a job. The family's fate is emblematic of the challenges that many Yazidis face in Germany. A safe and peaceful life – that remains a distant goal for many.