SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The unemployment rate has risen in Iraq because of the presence of a high number of foreign workers in the country, according to a parliamentary committee.
Member of labor and social affairs committee Fadhil al-Fatlawi said there were nearly one million foreign labors in Iraq, most of them work in oil companies, according to state-run newspaper al-Sabah.
“The committee is working in cooperation with the authorities to limit companies and fake offices that bring foreign workers in return for visa, and grant them unofficial licenses to work in the country,” Fatlawi said.
“… It has caused an exacerbation of unemployment rates in society,” he added.
The ministry of labor and social affairs has formed a committee to investigate the locations of “bogus companies” in the country, Raed Jabbar, director general of the department of labor and vocational training, told Sabah newspaper.
Iraq struggles with growing rates of unemployment due to a shattered economy and corruption. According to Iraqi prime minister’s adviser Mazhar Mohammed, the unemployment rate among youths in Iraq has risen to 29 percent.
Last week, Iraqi President Barham Salih said $150 billion from oil had been smuggled out of the country since former Baath president Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003.
OPEC’s second-biggest oil producer relies almost exclusively on its crude exports to fund its budget, which includes a bloated public sector and mass subsidies.
Iraq is perceived as the 21st most corrupt country in the world, according to Transparency International, with some $450 billion in public funds vanishing into the pockets of shady politicians and businessmen since 2004.
