During the war with the Islamic State (ISIS), “the number of foreign workers coming to apply for work permit in the Kurdistan Region daily was 500 to 600,” Brigadier General Yadgar Anwar, the head of Residency Office in Erbil, told Rudaw English on Sunday.
However this has increased, with workers from across the Middle East and the rest of Asia coming to the Kurdistan Region for job opportunities.
“In one day, 800 to 1,000 people come to apply for work permit in the Kurdistan Region, mostly from Iran. Some also come from Turkey, India, Nepal and some Arab countries,” Anwar told Rudaw Radio on Saturday.
Nearly half of the foreign workers come from Iraq’s eastern neighbor which is under increasing economic pressure due to US sanctions and military pressure targeting the Islamic Republic in various sectors.
“Of this figure, 40 percent currently comes from Iran,” he explained.
Foreign workers are flocking to the Kurdistan Region as investment there has begun to grow again due to improved political and security relations with Baghdad post-ISIS.
One issue facing foreign workers is the deprivation of their rights by employment agencies, who often promise well-paying jobs and residency in exchange.
“People or companies applying for a visa to foreigners should commit to giving all their rights. That is, they will shoulder this duty,” Anwar added.
Foreign workers are also facing increased xenophobic hostility, as Kurdish workers cite the presence of foreign workers as a reason behind a perceived lack of job opportunities. Local workers often feel left at the wayside when local companies recruit foreign workers instead, but foreign workers are often employed for job roles that are otherwise difficult to fill.
The unemployment rate in the Kurdistan Region was 6.5 percent prior to the war with the Islamic State (ISIS). The rate rose to 13.5 percent in 2015, but declined to 10.2 percent at the end of 2017. The figure currently stands at 10.7 percent, according to figures from Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO).
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has worked with the private sector to create job opportunities in the Kurdistan Region in three different ways.
“First, finding job opportunities – we have six job centers where the unemployed can register. They will be contacted when an employment opportunity is found for them,” Arif Hito, general manager of labor at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, told Rudaw on Saturday.
They have a presence in all four provinces of the Kurdistan Region.
“In addition to the cities of Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok and Halabja, we have mobile teams working in remote places in coordination with foreign organizations. In January 2019, we started to register names via two buses which go to different places,” he added.
Half of the Kurdistan Region’s population is under the age of 32, according to the KRSO. Underemployment and unemployment rates are particularly high for young people in the Kurdistan Region, with an unemployment rate among those aged 15-34 of 25.2% according to a July 2018 UN Migration Agency demographic survey of the Kurdistan Region.
“We have professional training centers where we teach professions to the youth and also give loans to small projects. So far, 8,136 people have benefitted from small loans. We have given nearly 76 billion dinars ($63.7 million) in small loans to the youth in order to pursue small ventures. They have six years to pay back the loan and most of the loans have been repaid by now.”
