The number of actual transfers of third-country nationals to Greece under the Dublin II regulation is modest. In 2007, member states transferred only 747 persons to Greece under Dublin II.31 Member states made 3,306 requests for transfers during the year, of which Greece accepted 2,097 and rejected 380, but actual returns lagged far behind. A similar pattern of few actual transfers relative to the number of requests and acceptances has been a consistent pattern since Dublin II went into effect, although the number of transfers to Greece has steadily grown from 350 in 2005 to 501 in 2006 and 747 in 2007.32 This growth pattern appears to be continuing in 2008 with 272 transfers in the first trimester of the year.33 The EU’s Failure to Relieve the Iraqi Refugee Burden in the Middle East The burden of hosting Iraqi refugees has not only not been equitably or fairly shared within the EU; the EU has also failed to share the refugee burden with the wider international community. UNHCR estimated in August 2008 that about 1.8 million Iraqi refugees were living in the Middle East.34 For the whole of the European Union, the number of Iraqi asylum seekers in 2007 was 38,286 and 19,375 in 2006.35 Although Iraqis were the largest nationality group seeking asylum in the EU in both those years, their numbers pale in comparison to the number of Iraqi refugees hosted by Syria (more than one million) and Jordan (about a half million). Europe has done little to relieve the pressure on Iraq’s neighbors or to share the burden by creating a legal mechanism to identify and protect Iraqi refugees.36 Although UNHCR had recommended 40,000 Iraqi refugees for third-country resettlement through August 2008, only 15,000 had departed the region, 10,000 of whom were resettled in the United States.37 As of August 2008, only seven EU countries had agreed to resettle any Iraqi 31 All statistics in this paragraph come from a power point presentation from the Greek Ministry of Interior to the JHA Council, Luxembourg, April 18, 2008. (On file with Human Rights Watch.) 32 “Illegal Migration in Greece as EU’s External Border: Dublin II Regulation—Implementing measures,” Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Interior, presentation to JHA Council, Luxembourg, April 18, 2008, p. 39. 33 Ibid. 34 Iraq Situation Update, UNHCR, August 2008. 35 UNHCR, “Asylum Levels and Trends, 2007,” Tables 12 and 13, pp. 24 and 25. 36 Jacques Barrot, the European Justice Commissioner, outlined a plan to resettle Iraqi refugees to the European Union on September 25, 2008, but said that detailed proposals for such a scheme would not be made available until the autumn of 2009. (See Jim Brunsden, “EU May Accept More Iraqi Refugees,” European Voice, September 25, 2008. http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2008/09/eu-may-accept-more-iraqi-refugees/62472.aspx.) 37 UNHCR, Iraq Situation Update, August 2008. Stuck in a Revolving Door 26