COMMON ANALYSIS
Last updated: June 2022
COI summary
[COI query on Palestinians in Iraq 2021]
The Palestinian population in Iraq is estimated between 4 000 to 10 000 people, most of whom live in Baghdad. They are living either in refugee camps or in the general community.
After the fall of the government of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, the legal status of Palestinians and their situation in Iraq changed. The Law No. 76 of 2017 (Law on the Residence of Foreigners) classified the Palestinian refugees residing in Iraq as foreigners, rescinding earlier legislation that had stipulated they should receive the same rights and privileges as Iraqi citizens, and ending Palestinians’ permanent residency status in Iraq. The current legal status of Palestinians in Iraq is unclear. Observers report that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted some Palestinians a one-month residency, and others a permit for two to three months. The new status deprived Palestinians of some rights, such as the acquisitions of the ration card and retirement as well as the right to free healthcare and education and it has limited their freedom of movement, as most of them have only refugee travel documents.
Palestinian refugees, who do not have access to documents such as residence card, citizenship certificate or nationality certificate, etc., are excluded from government services and basic needs (e.g. healthcare, employment, education, housing).
The change in the legal status has further caused deterioration in their economic situation, which also had a negative humanitarian impact on Palestinian refugee children.
On 19 March 2019, the Iraqi Government withdrew the 2018 decision on the suspension of the provision of food rations for non-Iraqi and resumed the food rations for Palestinians.
It was also reported that in December 2020 the Iraqi Parliament approved a legal amendment to the law on foreigners giving Palestinians who have resided in Iraq for a minimum of ten years the same rights as Iraqi nationals, except for citizenship, running for public office and voting.
Most Palestinian refugees living in Iraq are Sunni Muslim and this resulted in being viewed with suspicion by Iraq’s Shia Muslims. Being perceived as supporters of Saddam Hussein, in the aftermath of 2003 invasion of Iraq, hundreds of Palestinians in the country were arrested by coalition forces, while Shia militant groups were reported to target Palestinians, by killing and expelling them from predominantly Shia areas. Iraqi security forces have reportedly continued to carry out raids in search of suspected Sunni Islamist militants among Palestinians. Family members of those detained by security forces have alleged that many have been subjected to torture, while others remain unaccounted for.
Various incidents against Palestinians refugees took place in Baghdad mainly based on the suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities. Access to fair judicial proceedings and state protection is reported to be a particular challenge for Palestinians, which renders them easy targets for abuse and exploitation by militias and tribes, including for confiscation of property and forced eviction from their homes.
Risk analysis
The acts to which individuals under this profile could be exposed are of such severe nature that they would amount to persecution (e.g. militia violence, illegal detention, kidnapping, killings, torture, forced disappearances). In other cases, individuals could be exposed to (solely) discriminatory measures, and the individual assessment of whether discrimination could amount to persecution should take into account the severity and/or repetitiveness of the acts or whether they occur as an accumulation of various measures. In this regard, the implications of their legal status should be given due consideration.
Not all individuals under this profile would face the level of risk required to establish a well-founded fear of persecution. The individual assessment of whether there is a reasonable degree of likelihood for the applicant to face persecution should take into account risk-impacting circumstances such as: area of habitual residence, (perceived) links with former regime or (Sunni) militant groups, (lack of) identity documents, etc.
Nexus to a reason for persecution
Available information indicates that persecution of this profile is highly likely to be for reasons of nationality (statelessness). In some cases, it may also be for reasons of (imputed) political opinion, due to perceived support for Sunni militias or ISIL (see 2.1 Persons (perceived to be) affiliated with ISIL).
Iraq is not an area of operations of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and in most cases Article 12(1)(a) QD would not be applicable[16].
[16] See also CJEU, Mostafa Abed El Karem El Kott and Others v Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal, C-364/11, judgment of 19 December 2012; CJEU, Bolbol v Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal, C-31/09, judgment of 17 June 2010.
See other topics concerning minorities: