Political and Human Rights Trade-offs: The Case of Iraq-Sweden and Iraq-Germany Assisted Return Frameworks

This report examines how European return policies towards Iraqi migrants generate trade‑offs between state interests in migration control and the protection of fundamental human rights within return programmes. It explores return cases from Sweden and Germany, focusing on Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) schemes and how these are incorporated within wider political and economic negotiations between the countries of destination (Germany and Sweden) and Iraq. The report provides a concise analysis of bilateral agreements and their practical frameworks, highlighting that “voluntary” return is often perceived as limited. Many Iraqi migrants agree to return not out of true choice but because stricter legal conditions, restricted rights, and lack of alternatives make them feel forced into accepting return offers. In this setting, reintegration support frequently serves as an implicit incentive, often exchanged for a reduction or adjustment of certain rights protections, which raises concerns about the true voluntariness of their consent. Methodologically, the report integrates the literature on human rights trade-offs within the Iraqi context with a legal analysis of pertinent international and bilateral instruments on asylum and return. It also expands on 250 interviews carried out by HHRO researchers as part of the Horizon Europe GAPs project between August 2024 and April 2025. These interviews involved 153 Iraqi returnees from Germany and Sweden, including those who were forcibly returned and those who took part in AVRR programmes.