Iraqi Mohammed Jalal lost 10 years of his life seeking asylum in Germany, without success. Instead of being granted refuge, he was sent back to the land he had fled.

He now faces the same challenges that drove him to leave the northern Kurdistan region of Iraq. More than a year has passed, and he is still without a job.

Jalal is just one of thousands of Iraqis and migrants from many other countries who have been forced out of Europe as it tightens its migration policies, driven by the rise of the extreme right.

European states are now working closely with Iraq to support returns by funding programmes primarily aimed at tackling unemployment.

In the town of Ranya in autonomous Kurdistan, Jalal moved back in with his elderly father to a cramped two-room apartment where they sleep on mattresses on a cold concrete floor.

"If I could return to Europe I would," 39-year-old Jalal told AFP.

He still dreams of a day when German authorities grant him asylum.

"I could become legal and work in a Kurdish restaurant," he said.

"Here I don't have a job."

In 2015, Jalal undertook the perilous journey across the Mediterranean from the Turkish city of Izmir to Greece.

He went to North Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia before finally reaching Germany. There, he settled in a centre for asylum seekers and received 300 euros ($385) a month.

Despite restrictions on asylum seekers........

© Al Monitor