MESOP MIDEAST WATCH: VON DER OSTEN NACH WESTEN: Kurdistan’s unemployed youth pull up stakes, move to Europe

Khazan Jangiz RUDAW – 29-10-2021 – ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish youth, frustrated with lack of employment prospects, are among thousands of migrants hoping to find a better life abroad by taking risky journeys that too often end in tragedy.

On Thursday, a young man from Erbil died in Belarus.

“Life has become difficult here. I want to leave for good and not come back,” Mikail Kamal told Rudaw at a travel agency in Soran. He finished high school but did not gain admission into university, is unemployed, and now considering getting a flight to Belarus.

Asked why he chose that route, Kamal said “the Turkey road is very hard because a lot of people drown daily.” Taking a route that avoids the sea “is easier,” he added.

Thousands of migrants have tried to gain entry to European Union nations from Belarus this summer. The EU accuses Minsk of pushing migrants to their borders in protest of sanctions imposed in response to a crackdown on dissent.

Poland declared a state of emergency on their border in late September. It has registered around 23,000 attempts to enter its territory this year, DW reported. Other migrants have tried to enter Lithuania or Latvia, where they have ended up in camps.

Mohammed Aziz Agha works at the travel agency Kamal visited. “A lot of people are migrating to Belarus,” he said. The cost is about $5,000.

This year, roughly 37,000 Iraqis have left the country by unofficial means, according to data from the Summit (Lutka) Foundation for Refugee and Displaced Affairs.

“It’s clear to everyone that in the past few years the war and conflict that faced Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, in addition to lack of basic services, lack of [salary] payments on time, lack of employment for the youth, especially university graduates, are some of the main reasons that have made Kurdistan Region citizens and Iraqis generally go to a more stable place in search of a more worthy and better life for themselves and their families, a place where there is employment and security,” Ari Jalal, the head of Lutka, told Rudaw on Friday.

Government officials acknowledge that there are flaws in the education system, contributing to students like Kamal not getting into post-secondary institutions or filling job market needs. Universities do not have enough space, Minister of Higher Education Aram Mohammed said on Thursday, responding to protests from students who were not admitted into their desired university programs. He called the situation a “catastrophe.”

The minister recently called for a dramatic overhaul of the system, saying the education students are currently receiving in Kurdistan Region is not preparing them to meet labour market needs, driving employers to look out of the Region to fill jobs.

Migrating to Europe is no easy solution. This year, ten Iraqis have died en route to Europe and 12 are still missing, according to Lutka. The latest death was on Thursday night.