- Introduction
- Guidance note
- Common analysis
- General remarks
- 1. Actors of persecution or serious harm
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2. Refugee status
- Preliminary remarks
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Analysis of particular profiles
- 2.1. Persons perceived to be associated with ISIL
- 2.2. Sunni Arabs
- 2.3. Political opposition activists and protesters
- 2.4. Journalists, media workers and human rights activists
- 2.5. Deserters from armed forces
- 2.6. Individuals approached for recruitment by armed groups
- 2.7. Former Baath party members
- 2.8. Members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), Peshmerga and local police
- 2.9. Individuals perceived to oppose ISIL
- 2.10. (Perceived) collaborators of Western armed forces, organisations, or companies
- 2.11. Humanitarian workers
- 2.12. LGBTIQ persons
- 2.13. Individuals perceived to transgress moral codes
- 2.14. Individuals considered to have committed blasphemy and/or apostasy
- 2.15. Religious and ethnic minorities, and stateless persons
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2.16. Women
- 2.16.1. Violence against women and girls: overview
- 2.16.2. Forced and child marriage
- 2.16.3. Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)
- 2.16.4. Women working in the public sphere
- 2.16.5. Women perceived to have transgressed moral codes
- 2.16.6. Women perceived to be associated with ISIL
- 2.16.7. Single women and female heads of households
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2.17. Children
- 2.17.1. Violence against children: overview
- 2.17.2. Child marriage
- 2.17.3. FGM/C
- 2.17.4. Child labour and child trafficking
- 2.17.5. Child recruitment
- 2.17.6. Education of children and girls in particular
- 2.17.7. Children born under ISIL who lack civil documentation
- 2.17.8. Children without a care-taker
- 2.18. Persons living with disabilities and persons with severe medical issues
- 2.19. Persons involved in and affected by blood feuds in the context of tribal conflict
- 2.20. Individuals accused of ordinary crimes
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3. Subsidiary protection
- 3.1. Article 15(a) QD
- 3.2. Article 15(b) QD
- 3.3. Article 15(c) QD
- 4. Actors of protection
- 5. Internal protection alternative
- 6. Exclusion
- Abbreviations and glossary
- Country of origin information references
- Relevant case law
In the context of Iraq, widespread criminality makes the exclusion ground ‘serious (non-political) crime’ particularly relevant. This is related to criminal activities of organised groups and gangs, as well as activities of ISIL and some militia, but the ground also applies to serious crimes committed by individuals not related to such groups.
Some particularly relevant examples of serious (non-political) crimes include kidnapping, extortion, trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, etc. For example, criminal gangs in Basrah have exploited the security gap and there has been a rise in robberies, kidnapping, murder, and drug trafficking.
Violence against women and children (for example, in relation to FGM, domestic violence, honour-based violence, forced and child marriage) could also potentially amount to a serious (non-political) crime.
Some serious (non-political) crimes could be linked to an armed conflict (e.g. if they are committed in order to finance the activities of armed groups) or could amount to fundamentally inhumane acts committed as a part of a systematic or widespread attack against a civilian population, in which case they should instead be examined under Article 12(2)(a)/Article 17(1)(a) QD.