Kurdistan
Owners of unregistered vehicles holding a demonstration in Sulaimani on January 7, 2025. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Owners of unregistered cars held a demonstration in Sulaimani on Tuesday and blocked a main road which led to minor clashes with security forces. This comes a month after local authorities banned smuggled unlicensed vehicles and began confiscating them, citing security concerns.
The road, a key route in Sulaimani city, is frequently blocked during demonstrations, causing massive traffic jams that leave drivers stuck for hours with limited escape options.
Rudaw footage showed protesters throwing rocks, blocking the road with bricks, and security forces responding with tear gas.
Governor Haval Abubakir met with representatives of the protesters to address their grievances.
“The meeting focused on their demands and the governor stressed that he will convey their demands to the relevant parties in order to resolve this issue on the basis of the applicable laws and guidelines of the Kurdistan Region,” read a statement from the governor’s office.
In early December, Sulaimani’s traffic directorate announced that unregistered cars that are smuggled into the Kurdistan Region and do not have license plates would be banned from streets and confiscated. These vehicles, often brought into the Region through illegal border crossings, either do not meet inspection requirements or exceed the permitted manufacturing year limits. Typically cars that are two model years older are not permitted into the Region.
The directorate has repeatedly dismissed claims that exceptions will be made or that the decision could be reversed.
Owners of unregistered cars, many of whom spent thousands of dollars on the vehicles, argue that authorities had facilitated the entry of such vehicles prior to the decision and that some of the cars are in acceptable condition if inspected. They have called on the government to create a process for granting permits to vehicles that could be deemed safe for use on the roads.
Unregistered cars are viewed as a security risk due to their inability to be tracked, their exemption from speed camera detection, and their association with actions that harm social peace, according to the traffic directorate.
Aso Mohammed, the head of Sulaimani's general traffic directorate, told Rudaw in December that they had seized over a hundred unlicensed vehicles.
The road, a key route in Sulaimani city, is frequently blocked during demonstrations, causing massive traffic jams that leave drivers stuck for hours with limited escape options.
Rudaw footage showed protesters throwing rocks, blocking the road with bricks, and security forces responding with tear gas.
Governor Haval Abubakir met with representatives of the protesters to address their grievances.
“The meeting focused on their demands and the governor stressed that he will convey their demands to the relevant parties in order to resolve this issue on the basis of the applicable laws and guidelines of the Kurdistan Region,” read a statement from the governor’s office.
In early December, Sulaimani’s traffic directorate announced that unregistered cars that are smuggled into the Kurdistan Region and do not have license plates would be banned from streets and confiscated. These vehicles, often brought into the Region through illegal border crossings, either do not meet inspection requirements or exceed the permitted manufacturing year limits. Typically cars that are two model years older are not permitted into the Region.
The directorate has repeatedly dismissed claims that exceptions will be made or that the decision could be reversed.
Owners of unregistered cars, many of whom spent thousands of dollars on the vehicles, argue that authorities had facilitated the entry of such vehicles prior to the decision and that some of the cars are in acceptable condition if inspected. They have called on the government to create a process for granting permits to vehicles that could be deemed safe for use on the roads.
Unregistered cars are viewed as a security risk due to their inability to be tracked, their exemption from speed camera detection, and their association with actions that harm social peace, according to the traffic directorate.
Aso Mohammed, the head of Sulaimani's general traffic directorate, told Rudaw in December that they had seized over a hundred unlicensed vehicles.
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