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Guarded welcome for Iraq refugees in
Kurdistan
13.11.2006 |
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ERBIL, Kurdistan
Region (Iraq), November 13, -- One day Salim Chalub
finally had enough of Baghdad, where he grew up and
had spent his entire life, and moved his family to
the distant city of Erbil in the far north of Iraq,
inside the Kurdistan autonomous region.
"After watching Shiites displacing Sunnis and Sunnis
displacing Shiites, we felt that the situation had
just become intolerable," said the 63-year-old who
has now made a new life in the north for his family.
"We had to come here."
Unlike many others, the family found a local person
to sponsor them and give them residency, but in
return for security, they now have to deal with high
prices and the struggle to find jobs.
"My sons leave every day to find work while the
others stay home," said Chalub. "My daughters lost
their jobs and have now become housewives."
Already hundreds of thousands of Iraq's best and
brightest have fled the increasing violence and
chaos in the rest of the country, with most going to
neighboring Syria and Jordan.
Increasing numbers, however, have decided to settle
in the north of the country, where the Kurds --
jealous of their security -- give the new arrivals
only a grudging welcome.
"Because of the difficult security in other Iraqi
regions, we take such measures to protect our
citizens and the immigrating families and prevent
terrorists infiltrating Kurdistan," said Lieutenant
Colonel Harish Khalid Azkaye, director of the Erbil
residency office.
Those hoping for residency in the Kurdish autonomous
region must find a local sponsor, preferably a
government employee, which is not easy for people
from central and south Iraq who have had little
contact with the Kurds before.
"This measure reduces immigration, especially the
Arab families into Kurdistan as they find it hard to
find a sponsor," said Azkaye.
Under its own administration since being put under
international protection in 1991, the autonomous
area of three Kurdish provinces in the north has
managed to avoid the insurgent and sectarian
violence plaguing the rest of Iraq.
There have been a few terrorist attacks on Kurdish
cities, admitted Azkaye, but new security measures
imposed over the past year have ended these and now
keep the region safe.
This security has been a magnet for migrants from
the rest of the country, and since 2004 2,054
families have moved to Erbil the Capital of
Kurdistan region from elsewhere in Iraq, with
similar numbers settling in the other Kurdish cities
of Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.
"The worse the security gets, the more people
arrive," Azkaye said. "Sometimes we have to limit to
20 the number of families we can process per day to
avoid congestion at the office."
Residency has to be renewed every three months.
Karim Sinjari, the interior minister for the region,
however, denies that potential residents need
sponsorship or that obtaining residency is a
difficult process. He is also quick to confirm that
all Iraqis have the right to settle in the Kurdish
region -- as long as they pass the rigorous security
checks.
"There is no law or instructions requiring
sponsorship, but families or citizens that come from
the outside wanting residency often bring a sponsor
from the region at their own initiative to
facilitate security checks and shorten the
procedure," he told the pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat
on Saturday.
For Abu Abbas, who sold his house in southern
Baghdad's Zafaraniyah neighborhood to move to Erbil,
achieving residency is definitely a problem.
Now living in a cramped housing complex near Erbil
city center, he managed to get residency for his
wife, but not for his daughter or son-in-law.
"A relative sponsored me in Arbil but refused to
include my son-in-law who cannot leave the house to
get a job," said the 45-year-old. "Two days ago I
convinced someone in the complex to sponsor him, but
he changed his mind the next day."
Professionals such as doctors, professors and
engineers have an easier time of it and can be
sponsored by the hospital or university interested
in employing them.
A year ago, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani --
himself a Kurd -- called on doctors and engineers to
move to the Kurdish provinces with their families
and continue to "serve their country", rather than
emigrating to Jordan or Syria as so many have done.
Security comes at a price, however, and as more
people move to Kurdistan rents and prices of basic
goods have soared, meaning that families like that
of Abu Abbas have a much lower standard of living
than before.
Fakhr Homondi, a real estate broker in Erbil, said
that rents for houses are not less than 300 to 500
dollars a month, up to three times what they are in
Baghdad, with many landlords demanding six months'
rent in advance.
"Everyone looking for houses are Arabs," said
Homondi. "Every day I have five to six families
coming to my office looking to rent a house."
Abu Abbas and his son leave their modest new home
each day to look for work, which is often scarce,
especially when it rains.
"We opened a women's hairdressing salon in our
housing complex that my wife and daughter work at,
but there are few customers," he said.
As they eke out a new living in the north, however,
many of the Arab immigrants long for the day when
they can return to their homes in central Iraq.
"I had to leave Baghdad with my family for Erbil for
security," said Zakiya Ali Ahmed, 61. "But I watch
the situation closely and I hope it will quiet down
so we can go home soon."
AFP
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