ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Around 6,000 people, mostly youth, have migrated from the Kurdistan Region to Europe since the beginning of 2025 in search of a better life, a refugee advocacy group told Rudaw on Sunday, with the majority of them from the Region’s eastern Sulamani province.
"The majority of the migrants are from [Sulaimani’s] Raparin Independent Administration, followed by the administrations of Garmiyan, Zakho and Soran," said Bakir Ali, head of the Association of Returned Migrants (ARR).
The Kurdistan Region has seen repeated waves of youth migration over the past decade, largely driven by economic hardship and the search for better opportunities abroad.
Ali noted that there is a significantly lower number of migrants from the Region’s major cities - Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaimani - where employment prospects are higher.
"Unemployment in [rural] districts and subdistricts is the main driver of migration," the head of the ARR said.
Asked about how they track migration numbers, Ali said the ARR has "representatives in Greece, Italy, and France.” It also receives data from smugglers based in "Tunisia, Libya, and Turkey who update us about how many Kurds [from the Region] move to Europe via sea routes."
He noted that three to four Kurds have died en route to Europe since the beginning of this year alone.
Part of the migrants intercepted by Libyan, Tunisian and Turkish coastguards are deported back to the Kurdistan Region. However, they once again trek the perilous journey because "they are not refunded [by their smugglers], so they try again."
A rising number of Kurdish youth have in recent months been opting for the Libya-Italy sea route to reach Europe. The dangerous path has become increasingly popular due to tighter border restrictions and longer wait times along the traditional Turkey-Greece route.
Last week, Ali reported that “61 migrants” have been detained by a “mafia group” in northeastern Libya’s port city of Benghazi while attempting to reach Europe. The migrants were “handed over to the mafia group” following a “financial dispute that arose between them and their traffickers,” he detailed.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi foreign ministry says it is working closely with the relevant authorities in Tripoli to address the issue of undocumented migrants. Baghdad has already facilitated the repatriation of tens of individuals from the north African country since the beginning of 2025, the ministry said.