Iraqi Refugees Leave Turkey for New Lives in Germany

A group of 105 Iraqi refugees, including families with children, will fly out of Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport today on an IOM charter flight to Hanover to start new lives in Germany.

The refugees, who have been living in Kayseri, Kırşehir, Sakarya, Tokat, Aksaray, Bilecik, Düzce, Amasya, Kırklareli, Yozgat, Afyon and Yalova, were selected by UNHCR and interviewed by the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in July.

The group, who underwent IOM pre-departure health screening yesterday, will be accompanied by two BAMF officials and an IOM medical escort. They will be welcomed in Hanover by a delegation headed by the German Federal Minister of the Interior Dr. Hans-Peter Friedrich.

The refugees will spend their first two weeks in Germany in a reception centre near Hanover, where they will receive post-arrival cultural orientation. They will also learn about NGOs and other service providers able to provide support after they leave the centre for resettlement in various German Länder.

IOM Turkey has been running resettlement programmes since 1991 and since then has helped some 85,890 refugees to resettle abroad. This year, it has helped over 4,500.

Germany has agreed to accept a quota of 300 refugees a year between 2012-2014. It recently accepted 200 refugees from the Shousha refugee camp in Tunisia. Between 2009-2010 it accepted some 2,500 Iraqi refugees from Syria and Jordan.

Refugees resettled in Germany receive temporary three-year residence permits, renewable where deemed necessary. After seven years, in individual cases and if the applicant meets the relevant requirements, a settlement permit may be granted.

Source: IOM Press release