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Why thousands of Iraqi Kurds risk their lives to reach Europe | Migration Issues

Asos Hassan is one of thousands of Kurdish people from northern Iraq who risked their lives to try to reach Europe this year.

Eager to escape economic hardship and political oppression, the 28-year-old university graduate of Koya, a town east of Erbil’s capital, twice tried to cross the Aegean Sea into Greece, but was expelled by Turkish authorities.

Despite his failure, he plans to return to Turkey and keep trying until he reaches his destination.

“I will continue even though I have been fired several times,” said Hassan. “I would rather die than continue this miserable life,” he added, explaining that he had struggled to find employment for many years and felt hopeless about the future.

As Hassan, Kamaran Aziz, 21, of Halabja, tried to Europe via Belarus but was evicted by local authorities after his visa expired last week.

Aziz paid $ 6,000 to Kurdish smugglers for the trip but was found arrested and beaten by Belarus border police before being forced to return home. Aziz told Al Jazeera he could die trying again than living in the Kurdish region.

Most of the approximately 30 people they lost their lives attempts to cross the English Channel last week were from the Kurdish region.

Iraqi Kurds have also died at the Belarus-Poland border as well hundreds many remain blocking sub-zero temperatures as they try to cross the European Union.

These tragic events have shown the growing number of migrants in the Kurdish region and left many wondering why people would have to travel such dangerous journeys to get out of the oil-rich region and have long been praised as a place of stability and development for all. of the world.

Men present at Iraqi Kurdish comforting ceremony Maryam Nuri Hama Amin drowned in the English Channel. [File: Safin Hamed/AFP]

Corruption, oppression, poverty

Like many Kurdish immigrants, the two young men complained of high unemployment, unpaid wages, widespread corruption, poor government jobs, and the means to help people associated with two large families and their political parties that have been sharing power in the region for years.

“It is impossible to get a job without the cooperation of the authorities,” said Hassan. “And if you try to claim your civil rights or participate in peaceful protests, you ‘re just firing and shooting.”

The Kurdish region, which is controlled by the Barzani and Talabani families and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union Kurdistan (PUK), has seen increasing protests over the past few years.

Thousands of students from Sulaimaniyah they went into the streets for several days last month demanding a refund of the cuts that were cut seven years ago. The protests turned violent when riot police confronted the students and used demonstrations to disperse the protesters.

Small demonstrations spread to other Kurdish provincial cities, including Erbil, Halabja, Kalar and Koya, and demonstrations took place in Baghdad.

Earlier this year, the United Nations condemned “unjust imprisonment”, unfair prosecution and “intimidation of journalists, protesters and protesters” in the region.

Riot police try to disperse protests by university students in Sulaimaniyah [File: Shwan Mohammed/AFP]

Growing a migration wave

According to Ari Jalal, head of the Sulaymaniyah-based Summit Foundation for Refugees and Displaced Affairs, at least 40,000 Iraqi people have left the country since early 2021, 70 percent of those from Kurdish region.

Jalal said migration to Iraq had been growing steadily since the 1990s, but it declined after the US invasion in 2003, before a further rise with the rise of ISIL (ISIS) in 2014.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) says the number of people leaving the Kurdish region is due to the large number of refugees from Iraq from Iraq after ISIL seized large territories in the north of the country in 2014, as well as years of civil strife. on them. Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by many countries around the world, has been using the mountains of northern Iraq as a starting point for rebellion against Turkey. Turkish troops regularly carry out cross-border operations and airstrikes in the PKK in northern Iraq.

In a statement last week, Dindar Zebari, KRG’s deputy director of international affairs, said the influx of about 700,000 refugees from other parts of Iraq had upset Iraqi Kurds, causing many to “grow the habit of fleeing.”

He added hundreds of villages in areas along the border where PKK fighters fought Turkey into the desert also added to the increase in migration.

“Immigrants are lying about life in the Kurdistan region and are being used … to tarnish the region’s image,” he told Al Jazeera. He also said that the money changers were also responsible.

Erbil has worked with Baghdad to repatriate hundreds of Kurdish refugees missing from Europe. It refuses to force its citizens to return.

Protesters marched on Azadi Park in central Sulaimaniyah, Iraq’s Kurdish region. [File: Shwan Mohammed/AFP]

‘Source of shame’

But experts say the exact reasons for the Kurdish migration do not match the government’s analysis.

“The biggest problem is corruption, human rights abuses, and unemployment,” said Kurdish independent scholar Mahmoud Kurdi.

He denied the increase in refugee (IDP) or conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which “affects small villages where hundreds of people live” was to blame.

“People are tired of poverty and unemployment. Although the redevelopment has been limited to major cities such as Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, many areas remain poor, looking very close to Sadr City, “he added, referring to the most disadvantaged areas in Baghdad.

Karim Nouri, the deputy minister of immigration in central Iraq, agreed. “The growing number of migrants in the Kurdish region is due to the fact that young people are finding it difficult to live freely and respectfully.”

The autonomous region, known for its vibrant blocks and lush green spaces, has been repeatedly criticized for restricting free speech, and more recently, the refugee crisis on the Belarus-Poland border has also highlighted growing corruption, poverty. and financial mismanagement.

According to Sulaymaniyah law researcher Lawan Othman, the refugee problem has become “a disgrace to the KRG”.

“Whether it’s a migration story or recent demonstrations, all of these events are linked to the deep frustration among the Kurdish people,” Othman said.

“They express disapproval of the Kurdish people and their rejection of their government and how it undermines their dignity and their human rights,” he said.

Dana Taib Menmy co-sponsored this report from Sulaimaniyah




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