ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Prisoners held in an Erbil correctional facility are taught new practical skills to earn money for their families and to help their rehabilitation after their release. The Directorate of Adult Reform in Erbil provides courses in various skills and crafts from tailoring to carpentry. “We’ve received many army tenders [to tailor army uniforms]. We sell clothes outside [the prison],” one inmate told Rudaw. “The directorate of this prison is very kind to us. Some of those who learned here now have their own shops. They fund their families. People from outside like academies and markets buy things from us like girls’ dresses, pants, and school uniforms.” “I have been in prison for 13 years. I work and send products outside,” another inmate told Rudaw. “The sales are good. I can make sofa sets, chairs, and meal tables from wood. I was able to make money in prison and sent it to my family outside. I have been helping my family.” The Directorate of Adult Reform holds 1,200 prisoners. Most of them have been trained in a craft –taught by fellow inmates. “Those who don’t know a craft, we give them different training and craft courses,” Hemin Faruq Nanakaly, the directorate’s chief, told Rudaw. “So they learn a craft and when their punishment is done and they are returned to the society, they’ll have their own job. We’re trying to make an online market for them so they can sell their products on a website and benefit from it.” Reporting by Mahdi Faraj, translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
