Asians Find Jobs in War-Torn Iraq

Thousands of Asian workers are moving to Kurdistan, an autonomous region of Iraq. But the road to success comes at a cost.

Thousands of Asian workers are moving to Kurdistan, an autonomous region of Iraq.

Here in the city centre, a handful of fountains flow calmly offering respite from the scorching heat above.

Nobody here’s scared of car bombs or violent clashes of militant attacks -- as they would be in rest of Iraq.

And here, Asian people see an opportunity to earn more money in the newly emerging economy.

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of  Saddam Hussein, Kurdistan has been developing at a fast pace. And the booming oil economy is attracting locals and foreigners alike. 

“There are many resources -- natural and human and opportunities as well,” says Herish Muharram from the Kurdistan investment board.

“Since the beginning we have been announcing that Kurdistan is the gateway to the rest of Iraq so Kurdistan can be a way to the entire Iraqi market. We deal equally with investors regardless of their nationality and id.”

Omar Faruq from India saw this opportunity and moved here in 2008.

He owns a fastfood chain and also heads the Indian Business and Professional Council in Kurdistan.

“Still in India many of the people don’t know about the Kurdistan region. What is Kurdistan. Still they are thinking about Iraq. So in Kurdistan recently...in 2008, people were afraid to come to Kurdistan from India. Here is a lot of opportunities for Indians to work here. We contacted a lot of agencies in India to bring them up here to work here.”

And it’s not just Indians, workers from all across South Asia are flocking to Erbil with the help of agencies. Imran from Pakistan did exactly that.

Imran has just got back from his 10-hour shift at work. In the evenings, he watches Bollywood films to relax. He explains how he got to Erbil.

“I paid my agent in Dubai 1500 US dollars. When I left from Dubai, the agent told me I would be given a job at a shop in the mall. He said I would have to load and unload utensils. He had promised be 400 US dollars in salary. But when I got here, I was only given 300-320 US dollars.”

Imran’s agent in Erbil confiscated his passport and sold it to his current employer for 700 dollars.

“The agents are selling us here like we are cattle or sheep. They sell us for 900 US dollar here or 700 US dollar there. What can we do?”

Until today, neither Imran nor other foreign workers at his workplace have their passports with them. To take away someone’s passport is a crime under international law. But that’s not all.

Imran ran into more trouble.

“When my passport was about to expire, I told my employers to do something about it.”

But Imran’s employers didn’t help him. Neither did the Pakistani embassy in Baghdad. So Imran currently lives and works illegally.

“I don't have my passport, neither do I have a valid work permit here. So I can't roam about freely. I can't go to someone's house and visit someone. I am scared of the police. I’ve heard they might put you in prison for six months if you don’t have a valid id.”

Imran’s friend Raju is from India. He moved to Erbil this February. He says he feels insecure.

“I don’t have any proof of any signed contract here. Tomorrow if the police asks me to show proof of employment, what I am I going to show? My passport? I don’t know anything about unions here. I don’t even know if there is a union office or not. I also have a problem with language. I don’t know English much, neither Kurdish nor Arabic.”

We asked Kurdistan’s labour ministry spokesperson Nasmi Musa Osman what they’ve done about complaints from migrant workers. He refused to acknowledge that there are employees working without contracts.

“All foreign labourers have signed contracts with their employers. I have no accurate information about employers taking their passports. There are only some unique cases: for example women who have been working as cleaners or cooks here, their employers take their passports because they don’t have enough knowledge about how things work here in Kurdistan. So they are taking their passports so that they don’t lose them!”

The Labour Ministry has set up a committee to monitor irregularities in employing foreigners. One of the bodies there is the Erbil Chamber of Commerce. When we approached them for an interview they refused to comment.

The Labour Ministry says it’s taking measures to avoid foreign workers being exploited.

But for workers like Imran, nothing’s changed on the ground.

“Who knows how we might return home or not. I don’t know what will happen”