European Asylum Support Office Country Guidance: Iraq Guidance note and common analysis The country guidance represents the common assessment of the situation in the country of origin by EU Member States. June 2019 SUPPORT IS OUR MISSION European Asylum Support Office Country Guidance: Iraq Common analysis and guidance note The country guidance represents the common assessment of the situation in the country of origin by senior policy officials from EU Member States, in accordance with current EU legislation and jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This guidance note does not release Member States from the obligation to individually, objectively and impartially examine each application for international protection. Each decision should be taken on the basis of the individual circumstances of the applicant and the situation in Iraq at the moment of the decision, according to precise and up-to-date country information, obtained from various relevant sources (Article 10 of the Asylum Procedures Directive). The analysis and guidance provided within this document are not exhaustive. June 2019 Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00800 numbers or these calls may be billed. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). ISBN 978-92-9485-054-6 doi: 10.2847/80555 © European Asylum Support Office 2019 Neither EASO nor any person acting on its behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained herein. 5 — COUNTRY GUIDANCE: IRAQ Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................... 8 Guidance note: Iraq ............................................................................................................................................. 11 I. Actors of persecution or serious harm ......................................................................................................... 12 II. Refugee status .............................................................................................................................................. 14 Guidance on particular profiles with regard to qualification for refugee status .................................................. 15 III. Subsidiary protection ................................................................................................................................... 26 Article 15(a) QD: death penalty or execution .............................................................................................. 26 Article 15(b) QD: torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ........................................... 26 Article 15(c) QD: serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict ............................................................... 28 IV. Actors of protection ..................................................................................................................................... 31 V. Internal protection alternative ..................................................................................................................... 32 VI. Exclusion....................................................................................................................................................... 36 Common analysis: Iraq ........................................................................................................................................ 39 General remarks ................................................................................................................................................... 40 I. Actors of persecution or serious harm ......................................................................................................... 42 The Iraqi State .............................................................................................................................................. 43 Popular Mobilisation Units and Tribal Mobilisation Militias ........................................................................ 43 Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities ...................................................................................... 44 The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) ............................................................................................. 45 Tribes ............................................................................................................................................................ 46 Other non-State actors................................................................................................................................. 46 II. Refugee status .............................................................................................................................................. 47 Analysis of particular profiles with regard to qualification for refugee status ..................................................... 49 1. Persons perceived to be associated with ISIL ...................................................................................... 50 2. Sunni Arabs .......................................................................................................................................... 52 3. Individuals approached for recruitment by armed groups .................................................................. 54 4. Former Baath party members ............................................................................................................. 55 5. Deserters from armed forces ............................................................................................................... 56 6. Political opposition activists and protesters ........................................................................................ 58 7. Journalists, media workers and human rights activists ....................................................................... 59 8. Members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), Peshmerga and local police ............................................................................................................................................................ 59 9. Individuals perceived to oppose ISIL.................................................................................................... 60 10. (Perceived) collaborators of Western armed forces, organisations, or companies ............................ 61 11. Humanitarian workers ......................................................................................................................... 61 12. LGBTI persons ...................................................................................................................................... 62 13. Individuals perceived to transgress moral codes ................................................................................. 63 14. Individuals considered to have committed blasphemy and/or apostasy ............................................ 65 6 — COUNTRY GUIDANCE: IRAQ 15. Religious and ethnic minorities, and stateless persons ....................................................................... 67 a. Turkmen ..................................................................................................................................... 68 b. Iraqis of African descent ............................................................................................................. 68 c. Yazidi .......................................................................................................................................... 69 d. Christians .................................................................................................................................... 70 e. Shabak ........................................................................................................................................ 71 f. Kaka’i .......................................................................................................................................... 72 g. Sabean-Mandaeans .................................................................................................................... 72 h. Baha’i .......................................................................................................................................... 73 i. Zoroastrian ................................................................................................................................. 74 j. Bidoon ........................................................................................................................................ 75 k. Fayli Kurds .................................................................................................................................. 75 l. Roma .......................................................................................................................................... 76 m. Palestinian .................................................................................................................................. 77 16. Women ...............................................................................................................................................