Answer :
Answer:Since 2003, Germany has revoked asylum status for more than 18,000 Iraqis. The German Federal Office for Refugees and Migration (BAMF), in letters to Iraqi refugees whose refugee status the Office wants to revoke, states: "Die politische Situation im Irak hat sich (…) grundsätzlich verändert. (…) Es sind keine Anhaltspunkte dafür ersichtlich, dass von der neuen irakischen Regierung politische Verfolgung ausgeht oder ausgehen wird." ("The political situation in Iraq has fundamentally changed. There are no indications that the new Iraqi government is engaging or will engage in political persecution.") It strikes us as a sweeping non sequitur to add to the obvious statement that the political situation has fundamentally changed the assertion that there are no indications that the new Iraqi government is or will be guilty of persecution. The new Iraqi government has repeatedly been found to torture detainees, to ignore basic rule-of-law principles, and to discriminate in its treatment of its citizens based on religious identity. Persecution of Iraqis on the basis of their identities, associations, and beliefs, by non-state actors in Iraq—which Germany now recognizes as possible agents of persecution—has also been widely documented.
Although there has been a fundamental regime change in Iraq since 2003, we are certain that new claims for protection have arisen due to widespread violence and human rights abuses currently ongoing in Iraq, as is indicated by nearly 2 million internally displaced persons, up to 2 million Iraqi refugees in the neighboring countries, and Iraqis as the largest number of asylum seekers in the industrialized West. Under the UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status’s interpretation of the cessation clause (Article 1.C) of the1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) cessation of refugee status can only be applied where the changes in country conditions have been both fundamental and durable. The Handbook says, “A mere—possibly transitory—change in the facts surrounding the individual refugee’s fear, which does not entail major changes of circumstances, is not sufficient to make the clause applicable.” Given the high continuing state of violence and instability in Iraq, it would not be possible at this time to argue convincingly that the changes that have occurred since 2003 are durable. If German law provides for revocation of refugee status without accounting for the durability of change in country conditions, then it does not conform to international standards. As a result, Iraqi refugees will be left vulnerable and subject to return to instable country conditions, despite being granted lawful protection under the Convention.
If the BAMF continues to initiate revocation procedures against Iraqi refugees on the basis of changed country conditions in Iraq, it should, at a minimum, give them the individualized opportunity to submit de novo refugee claims in light of current conditions. It should also give all of the more than 18,000 Iraqis whose refugee status has been revoked the opportunity to make new refugee claims based fears of persecution or serious harm arising from the current human rights situation in Iraq.
Refugee status should not be revoked, and protection should not be denied, on the basis of an internal flight alternative. Although conditions in the northern governorates (Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Dohuk) in Iraq are relatively stable compared with the rest of the country, the situation remains unpredictable and tense even in those areas. UNHCR warns that conflict prevailing in other parts of the country might spill over. This month, Human Rights Watch published a report, "Caught in the Whirlwind: Torture and Denial of Due Process by the Kurdistan Security Forces," which documents that serious human rights violations continue to take place in the north.
