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What drives irregular migration?
Over the past three years, thousands of people from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR), including women and children, have made the dangerous journey over the English Channel in hope of reaching the United Kingdom. Many have died trying to reach British shores, while others have lost family members on the journey.
Why are people leaving the IKR’s relative security?
The Kurdistan Region has a population of around six million people, and yet 1.3 million are employed by the government. The government’s austerity measures have led to a reduction in wages — despite the rising cost of living. Disagreements with the federal Iraqi government over the export of oil and the budget, alongside Kurdish political party infighting, have left the public with a volatile situation.
Older men and women queue up for hours to receive their pensions. Indeed, some people have lost their lives in stampedes surrounding the payment of cash salaries in recent months. In parts of the Kurdistan Region, salaries are late. This has resulted in monthly delays and is undoubtedly one of the drivers of irregular migration.
Turkey’s military incursion into the IKR against the PKK group, which it deems a terrorist group, has only compounded the above situation. This has disrupted food security in the countryside, and dozens of villages have been…
