RAPARIN, Kurdistan Region — A growing stream of Kurds are making the move to Europe as unemployment and delayed wages push people to search for better living conditions abroad.
"If I have the money and if there is a safe route, I'd also like to migrate with my wife and two daughters," said Hama Shwan, a 45-year-old photographer from Ranya.
Three months ago, he sent his son to Europe and says he would send his other three as well if he had the money.
"I also have three other sons. I would send them as well if I had the money and the opportunity. "They shouldn't stay one more minute in the Kurdistan Region," said Shwan.
"I would like to work, but there's nothing available," Khalid Shukri, a student from the University of Zakho said.
"Everybody is looking to build their future and wants a fulfilling life. What should the people do if you don't pay them their salaries?" Shukri asked.
Another student from Zakho University, Khalat Salih said, "We've considered moving abroad because there are no jobs and good living conditions here. Several of our friends have moved abroad in search of a good job and a better life."
Thousands from the Kurdistan Region have traveled to Turkey, according to Bakir Ali, the Head of Europe's Deported Migrants Association in the Kurdistan Region.
"More than 25,000 people from the Kurdistan Region have traveled to Turkey in the past six months," Ali explained.
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.
"We mostly introduce them to trusted smugglers who are from this area and don't take people's money," said Abdulla Omar, owner of a travel agency.
"Because a lot of people have been scammed and lost their property while traveling abroad," Omar explains.
Figures from Ali’s association estimate that 27,000 people illegally crossed into Europe in 2020. Of this, 8,000 were from the Raparin administration.
32 refugees from the Kurdistan Region drowned in the Mediterranean last year. Four of them were from Raparin.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
