Rami, a Syrian employee in Iraq, spends his 16-hour shifts at a restaurant fearing arrest as authorities crack down on undocumented migrants within the nation higher identified for its personal exodus.
He’s one in every of lots of of 1000’s of foreigners working with out permits in Iraq, which after rising from a long time of battle has develop into an surprising vacation spot for a lot of looking for alternatives.
“I have been capable of keep away from the safety forces and checkpoints,” mentioned the 27-year-old, who has lived in Iraq for seven years and requested that AFP use a pseudonym to guard his id.
Between 10 within the morning and a pair of:00 am the subsequent day, he toils at a shawarma store within the holy metropolis of Karbala, the place thousands and thousands of Shiite pilgrims congregate yearly.
“My biggest concern is to be expelled again to Syria the place I might must do navy service,” he mentioned.
The labour ministry says the inflow is principally from Syria, Pakistan and Bangladesh, additionally citing 40,000 registered immigrant employees.
Now the authorities are attempting to control the variety of international employees, because the nation seeks to diversify from the presently dominant hydrocarbons sector.
Many like Rami work within the service trade in Iraq.
One Baghdad restaurant proprietor admitted to AFP that he has to play cat and mouse with the authorities throughout inspections, asking some workers to make themselves scarce.
Not all those that work for him are registered, he mentioned, due to the pricey charges concerned.
– Risk of authorized motion –
A few of the undocumented employees in Iraq first got here as pilgrims. In July, Labour Minister Ahmed al-Assadi mentioned his companies had been investigating data that “50,000 Pakistani guests” stayed on “to work illegally”.
Regardless of threats of expulsion due to the dimensions of problem, the authorities on the finish of November launched a scheme for “Syrian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani employees” to regularise their employment by making use of on-line earlier than December 25.
The ministry says it can take authorized motion towards anybody who brings in or employs undocumented international employees.
Rami has determined to play secure, though “I actually need” to accumulate authorized employment standing.
“However I am afraid,” he mentioned. “I am ready to see what my buddies do, after which I will do the identical.”
Present Iraqi regulation caps the variety of international employees an organization can make use of at 50 p.c, however the authorities now need to decrease this to 30 p.c.
“At the moment we permit in solely certified employees for jobs requiring expertise” that aren’t presently obtainable, labour ministry spokesman Nijm al-Aqabi instructed AFP.
It is a delicate problem — for the previous 20 years, even the highly effective oil sector has been dominated by a international workforce. However now the authorities are looking for to favour Iraqis.
“There are giant corporations contracted to the federal government” which have been requested to restrict “international employee numbers to 30 p.c”, mentioned Aqabi.
“That is within the pursuits of the home labour market,” he mentioned, as 1.6 million Iraqis are unemployed.
He recognised that every family has the precise to make use of a international home employee, claiming this was work Iraqis didn’t need to do.
– ‘Life is tough right here’ –
One company launched in 2021 that brings in home employees from Niger, Ghana and Ethiopia confirms the excessive demand.
“Earlier than we used to herald 40 ladies, however now it is round 100” a yr, mentioned an worker on the company, talking to AFP on situation of anonymity.
It was a pattern picked up from wealthy international locations within the Gulf, the worker mentioned.
“The scenario in Iraq is getting higher, and with salaries now larger, Iraqi house homeowners are on the lookout for consolation.”
A home employee earns about $230 a month, however the authorities have quintupled the registration charge, with a piece allow now costing greater than $800.
In the summertime, Human Rights Watch denounced what it referred to as a marketing campaign of arbitrary arrests and expulsions focusing on Syrians, even these with the mandatory paperwork.
HRW mentioned that each properties and work locations had been focused by raids.
Ahmed — one other pseudonym — is a 31-year-old Syrian who has been undocumented in Iraq for the previous yr and a half.
He started as a cook dinner in Baghdad and later moved to Karbala.
“Life is tough right here — we have no rights,” he instructed AFP. “We are available illegally, and the safety forces are after us.”
His spouse didn’t accompany him. She stayed in Syria.
“I might return if I may,” mentioned Ahmed. “However life there’s very tough. There isn’t any work.”
