Between 2007 and 2009 over 38,000 Iraqis accounted for 17 per cent of all asylum applications in the EU, making it the largest country of origin for refugees.
The Iraqi parliament has blocked the repatriation of thousands of asylum seekers who have lost the right to remain in Britain.
It has banned the forced return from Europe of tens of thousands of Iraqis and threatened to fine airlines that deliver deportees.
Failed asylum seekers have already been turned back at the border, said the refugee support group that pushed for the change.
Iraq has banned the forced return from Europe of tens of thousands of Iraqis and threatened to fine airlines that deliver deportees to Baghdad Airport (pictured)
The UK has failed to return any rejected Iraqi asylum seekers since March 2011, mainly because of legal problems over their arrival at Baghdad airport and the breakdown of security within Iraq.
At one point the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg blocked deportations on the grounds that many parts of Iraq remained too dangerous.
The Home Office says it sent back 103 people to Iraq in the first quarter of 2012 but that figure includes those who returned willingly.
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