The Turkish Interior Ministry announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Iraq on the voluntary return of Iraqi citizens in Türkiye.
The agreement, signed by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Iraqi Minister of Migration and Displacement Evan Faiq Jabro, seeks to bolster cooperation between the two nations in managing migration more sustainably and securely. "As part of the memorandum of understanding, which aims for a more sustainable and secure approach to migration management, cooperation will be undertaken to prevent irregular and illegal migration effectively," the ministry said. It will allow Iraqi nationals residing in Türkiye to voluntarily return to their home country. "Within the scope of the memorandum, cooperation will be undertaken to combat irregular migration," Yerlikaya said on X.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis fled to Syria in 2014 when the Daesh terrorist group seized Iraq’s Mosul, Anbar and Salahaddin provinces at its peak. After Türkiye launched Operation Peace Spring in October 2019 to drive out the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG, from northern Syria, hundreds of displaced Iraqis fled PKK/YPG-occupied regions east of the Euphrates River and took refuge in opposition-held regions near the Turkish border. There are still thousands of Iraqis, among Syrians and other foreign nationals, in PKK/YPG-controlled camps in Syria, especially the overcrowded al-Hol camp.
Türkiye itself has been a migration destination, especially in the 1980s, and currently hosts more than 4.4 million residents of foreign origin. It also hosts more than 3.1 million Syrians under temporary protection, while another 228,290 people stay in the country under the status of international protection. The latest figures show it hosts more than 1.1 million people with residence permits.
Irregular migration, however, escalated as undocumented migrants, those arriving under the condition of limited stays, illegally outstaying, are growing in numbers. Though the number varies over the years, Afghans and Syrians make up the bulk of intercepted irregular migrants. Palestinian migrants and migrants from Turkmenistan, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt and Sudan usually follow them in statistics.