As summer returns, Kurdish youth again eye migration to Europe
RANYA, Kurdistan Region - Last year, Zaid Salam travelled to Turkey, the first leg of what he hoped would be a journey to Europe. But his dreams were cut short when he was arrested by Turkish police and deported back to the Kurdistan Region, along with more than a hundred others. A year later, he is thinking of trying again.
"In September last year, we were arrested and deported. I once again applied for a [Turkish] visa, but they denied me a visa," Salam, a 19-year-old unemployed youth from Ranya in the Raparin district of Sulaimani province, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
"I am planning to go back again through the smuggling routes. I am unemployed. I do not have a job here in this country. I make only 10,000 dinars and work from sunrise to sunset and when I go back home, I sleep at 7 pm out of exhaustion. Every youth from Raparin wants to migrate," he said.
Scores of people, mainly youth, from across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq take to smuggling routes on a daily basis out of desperation, in hopes of escaping endless crises in the country, including high unemployment, political instability, and corruption.
Raparin has around 30 businesses that offer assistance in obtaining visas, and according to them, around 500 young people apply for Turkish visas every day. The companies also act as intermediaries between migrants and smugglers.
Abdulla Omer, the owner of a travel agency, says every day around 20 youth come to apply for a Turkish visa, but strict visa requirements for youth between the ages of 18 and 25 mean most of them opt to travel through illegal routes.
"Two classes of people want to travel: most of them are those who never return, and others just travel for vacations, but their number is small. A Schengen visa is very difficult to get," he said.
According to data from the Association of Returned Migrants from Europe, in the first five months of 2023 up to 1,000 people have left for Europe from Raparin. Of this number, two have gone missing.
In the past three years, 74,200 people have left the Kurdistan Region for the West. Of this number, 16,100 were from the Raparin administration alone. Of those, 216 died en route to Europe, 57 of them from Raparin.
"There is a heated market of transporting migrants from here to European countries. And no one guarantees whether or not they will safely arrive. If they [migrants] manage to make it to Europe, then the smugglers receive their money, and if they die, they [the smugglers] will get away with that," Abu Bakir Ali, head of the Association of Returned Migrants from Europe told Rudaw.
Government authorities and the United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) are investigating the issue.
"The Kurdistan Regional Government authorities are aware of this situation. A few days ago a UNAMI delegation was here. We explained and informed them about this trend in this region," said Hiwa Qarani, head of the Raparin Administration.
"In September last year, we were arrested and deported. I once again applied for a [Turkish] visa, but they denied me a visa," Salam, a 19-year-old unemployed youth from Ranya in the Raparin district of Sulaimani province, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
"I am planning to go back again through the smuggling routes. I am unemployed. I do not have a job here in this country. I make only 10,000 dinars and work from sunrise to sunset and when I go back home, I sleep at 7 pm out of exhaustion. Every youth from Raparin wants to migrate," he said.
Scores of people, mainly youth, from across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq take to smuggling routes on a daily basis out of desperation, in hopes of escaping endless crises in the country, including high unemployment, political instability, and corruption.
Raparin has around 30 businesses that offer assistance in obtaining visas, and according to them, around 500 young people apply for Turkish visas every day. The companies also act as intermediaries between migrants and smugglers.
Abdulla Omer, the owner of a travel agency, says every day around 20 youth come to apply for a Turkish visa, but strict visa requirements for youth between the ages of 18 and 25 mean most of them opt to travel through illegal routes.
"Two classes of people want to travel: most of them are those who never return, and others just travel for vacations, but their number is small. A Schengen visa is very difficult to get," he said.
According to data from the Association of Returned Migrants from Europe, in the first five months of 2023 up to 1,000 people have left for Europe from Raparin. Of this number, two have gone missing.
In the past three years, 74,200 people have left the Kurdistan Region for the West. Of this number, 16,100 were from the Raparin administration alone. Of those, 216 died en route to Europe, 57 of them from Raparin.
"There is a heated market of transporting migrants from here to European countries. And no one guarantees whether or not they will safely arrive. If they [migrants] manage to make it to Europe, then the smugglers receive their money, and if they die, they [the smugglers] will get away with that," Abu Bakir Ali, head of the Association of Returned Migrants from Europe told Rudaw.
Government authorities and the United Nations mission in Iraq (UNAMI) are investigating the issue.
"The Kurdistan Regional Government authorities are aware of this situation. A few days ago a UNAMI delegation was here. We explained and informed them about this trend in this region," said Hiwa Qarani, head of the Raparin Administration.