Iraqi refugees being sent home
But do these deportations breach guidelines set by the UNHCR?
Dozens of Iraqi refugees are being forced to go back home.
The Netherlands, Britain, Norway and Sweden has rejected many asylum claims and what could be the first in a series of deportations took place on Wednesday.
These countries argue that Iraq is now safe enough for those not facing specific threats to return.
However, United Nation’s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) disagrees. It says the situation in Iraq is still volatile.
While the level of violence is not as high as it was in 2007, there has been a sharp increase in recent months following national elections. And the UNHCR says it remains concerned about Iraq’s human rights record.
Are those EU countries in breach of guidelines set by the UNCHR? And is there a possibility that Iraq’s immediate neighbours could follow suit?
Inside Story, with presenter Mike Hanna, discusses with guests: Arevan Mohammed, an Iraqi refugee who is appealing against a UK deportation order; Peter Kessler, a senior external affairs officer at the UNHCR; and Hugo Brady, a senior research fellow on European Union institutions and home affairs at the Centre for European Reform.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Wednesday, June 9, 2010.