Iraq Seeking EU Money To Help Bring Refugees Home

BAGHDAD -- Iraq is negotiating with the European Union on a proposed memorandum of understanding to combat illegal immigration and repatriate Iraqi refugees willing to return home.

Iraqi Migration and Displacement Minister Abdul-Samad Sultan told RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) that Iraq has received 10 million euros ($12.5 million) from Germany in support of the ministry's “incoming generation” program designed to help returnees reintegrate into Iraqi society.

He pointed out that in Denmark alone more than 300 Iraqi refugees wish to return and are awaiting money from the program to do that.

Sultan told RFI that the summer months are expected to see Iraqi refugees returning en masse from neighboring countries as the school year ends.

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, estimates that more than 2 million Iraqis have fled to neighboring states, particularly Syria and Jordan.