The Foreign Workers Culture and Defense Organization said they have documented 170 violations committed against foreign workers since they started tracking the issue in 2014, and the number of occurrences is going up.
“The types of abuses are sexual and physical abuse, beating and humiliation, or not paying them money or giving them food, in addition to confiscation of their passports and reduction of holidays,” Mohammed Hazhar, head of the organization, told Rudaw.
Foreign workers from around the world, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Ethiopia, Mali, and the Philippines, as well as from neighbouring nations, flocked to the Kurdistan Region during the economic boom before the war with ISIS and the financial crisis.
Many came to Kurdistan via employment agencies.
They have had mixed experiences in the Kurdistan Region, with some telling Rudaw they are making more money in Kurdistan than they could in their home country and enjoy the culture. Other have said they have long work days, have little time off, and earn low salaries.
Hazhar said his organization have rescued a number of foreign workers from abusive situations, including being trafficked to elsewhere in Iraq.
“We have proof that female workers are exposed to trade. We rescued a Nepali girl who worked in Kurdistan Region but was sold to Baghdad for four years,” Hazhar said.
In coordination with the Asayesh (security department) they have rescued ten other women who had been “sold” to Baghdad for $8,000, he added. Some cases have been taken to court.
It is much easier to obtain a visa to enter the Kurdistan Region than it is for Iraq, though visas issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are not valid in the rest of the country.
The Philippine government has warned its citizens to be careful of social media advertisements of employment opportunities in Dubai.
“Nine out of ten Filipinos illegally trafficked to Iraq are transported via a Manila/Clark-Dubai-Erbil-Baghdad/Basra route,” the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad stated last month.
Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs had earlier said it had seen a spike in the number of Filipino workers trafficked from Dubai into Iraq.
“Since their visas from Erbil will not be valid in Iraq, the victims are transferred from one car to another at least five times in one trip to avoid inspection in several security checkpoints,” the embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires Julius Torres said in the summer.
Some reported being sexually harassed during the journey.
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