ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Erbil governor’s office has announced a campaign to remove mystics, solicitors, and children working on the city’s streets. “Beggars, fortune tellers, and individuals who work in front of car dealerships and sell goods in front of traffic lights will be arrested,” read a statement from the governor's office Wednesday. The order, issued by Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw in response to public complaints, aims to address “uncivilized behavior” through a campaign focused on preventing incidents that deviate from public norms. The campaign will specifically target industrial areas in northern and southern Erbil; offenders will be arrested by Erbil police and held legally accountable. Beggars can often be seen on the streets of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. They often exploit children to emotionally manipulate passersby into giving them money or selling inexpensive wares and goods like flowers. In April 2022, nearly 50 beggars were arrested as a part of a campaign to “eliminate any form of incivility in the city,” according to Erbil’s police. In June, the Kurdistan Save the Children (KSC) organization documented 1,247 children between the ages of 2 to 14 years old working on the streets of the Kurdistan Region’s cities. In November, Iraqi security forces launched a campaign to detain street beggars, citing threats to public security. In late May, police forces in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad detained more than 110 beggars of different nationalities, including children, based on an Iraqi interior ministry announcement.
