2024-07-29 05:33:51
On Sunday, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a clarification statement regarding the allegations of the disappearance of 50,000 Pakistani citizens on its territory, which coincided with the season of visiting the religious shrines in Karbala.
In its statement, it said that it “followed up on what was reported by some media outlets regarding allegations of the disappearance of 50,000 Pakistanis in Iraq. The ministry made official contacts with the Pakistani side, represented by the Pakistani Minister of Religious Affairs, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, who confirmed that there was confusion in the transmission of the information he provided.”
She added that “what was reported by some media outlets about the disappearance of 50,000 Pakistanis is incorrect, and the Pakistani side will summon the media outlet that published the inaccurate news to investigate the matter.”
The Pakistani minister had said in a tweet on the “X” platform: “The Iraqi ambassador to Pakistan informed him that 50,000 Pakistanis failed to return to their country (after the end of the Karbala visit ceremony),” then the minister returned and wrote another tweet in which he said: “The statement was taken out of context and used to insult Pakistan. This number (50,000) is for the past years and not just this year. These people did not disappear; rather, they failed to return, and they are not affiliated with any party or organization.” In reference to what some people have repeated about the possibility of these people being recruited into armed factions and groups.
The issue of illegal foreign workers in Iraq is one of the problems facing the Iraqi authorities, given their relatively high numbers in a country whose citizens suffer from declining job opportunities, in addition to some security and social problems caused by some of these illegal groups. In mid-July, the Baghdad Operations Command announced that it had dismantled a Pakistani gang of four people who had kidnapped an engineer of the same nationality in the capital, Baghdad.
People of Pakistani, Iranian, Bangladeshi, and Syrian nationalities often enter Iraq during the religious pilgrimage season, or by obtaining a tourist entry visa to the Kurdistan Region, and then they infiltrate the labor market illegally. Some unofficial figures indicate that there are about 800,000 workers of different nationalities inside Iraq illegally.
In an effort by the Iraqi authorities to address the phenomenon of illegal foreign labor, the Iraqi government issued an amnesty last month starting in early July, during which it allowed Iraqi employers to sponsor their foreign workers and grant them a one-year work permit.
Baghdad Operations Command announced, on Sunday, the arrest of 69 foreigners violating residency conditions in various areas on the Rusafa side.
The command stated in a statement, “With the aim of enhancing security and stability in all areas of the capital, Baghdad, our security sectors, represented by the Rusafa Police Command, carried out a campaign to audit the status of foreign workers within the sector of responsibility on the Rusafa side, in coordination with the Intelligence and Security Department of the Baghdad Operations Command.”
She added that “during the campaign, it was able to arrest (69) foreigners who violated the conditions of the Department of Residence and Nationality and who did not carry official identification papers or residency in a number of areas in Rusafa. Those arrested were handed over to the competent authorities to complete the legal procedures against them.”
In the same context, security sources in Baghdad revealed that high-level orders were issued to double measures to prevent the flow of illegal foreign workers from the Kurdistan Region towards the capital, Baghdad.
Local media quoted the sources as saying, “Higher orders were issued to double the procedures at the checkpoints on the roads between the Kurdistan Region and Diyala Governorate directly and to re-include the dirt roads (breeze) in the agricultural areas in the inspection and ambush procedures in order to arrest any foreign workers who violate the residency conditions and are being transported and smuggled towards Baghdad.”
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2024-07-29 05:33:51