A group of Iraqi Christians, who withdrew their requests for Czech asylum and left for Germany four weeks ago, appealed against their return to the Czech Republic and the court has not yet decided on the appeal, the German Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) told CTK on Friday.
No date of the return of the Iraqis is set because the respective administrative court has not yet decided on the appeal, Edith Avram, from BAMF, said.
If the refugees are returned to the Czech Republic, they will be moved to a refugee facility for illegal migrants. They will either be deported to Iraq or they will be able to again apply for Czech asylum.
The German police first wanted to return the 25-member group to the Czech Republic, but the refugees applied for German asylum and said they had relatives there. The father of one of the families is in Germany, which means that the family can reunite with him. The remaining 20 people would probably have to leave Germany. The German authorities asked the Czech Republic for taking the refugees back, with which the Czech Interior Ministry agreed.
In early April, the Czech government stopped the resettlement project for 153 Iraqi Christian families due to the departure of this group to Germany.
A different group of 16 people voluntarily returned to Iraq after they withdrew their Czech asylum applications, were stopped close to the German border and warned against attempts to illegally enter Germany. Another family of eight decided to return to Iraq because the grandparents felt homesick.
Within the resettlement project, 89 Iraqis moved to the Czech Republic. The remaining 40 people said they want to stay in the country.