Reporting by Faris Rifai
(Eqtsad)- The situation of Syrian refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan seems to be better than that of their peers in the neighboring countries of asylum, although they suffer from the material hardship that has been going on for years after the budget cut by the central government. The cut affected the level of services provided.
But the visitor can find Syrian workers who have been involved in the labor markets to overcome this hardship experienced by the people of the region themselves, breaking the typical refugee stereotypes.
In the city of Dohuk (north-west of the region), for example, there are hundreds of Syrian refugees who fought unemployment. Some opened shops, restaurants, small factories and bakeries. Others went to work in hotels or as taxi drivers and many young people went to universities to pursue their studies.
"This stability, in addition to the freedom available to refugees by the territorial government and equality in all matters of their lives, including work," said the director of the office of the Syrian Association for Refugee Rights in Kurdistan, Kawa Khalil, “pushed many of them not to think about migrating to Europe." This also led the host community to think in a positive way of the Syrian refugees.
The Kurdistan region includes about 250,000 Syrian refugees displaced from Qamishli and Kubani, some of them from Deir al-Zour, Aleppo, Efrin and Damascus, and the region includes about 2 million displaced Iraqis and a few thousand displaced from the Kurdistan of Iran and Turkey, which - according to us – is a major crisis on the already limited resources of the region with the decline in world oil prices and the region's war against ISIS.
Khalil pointed out that "what aggravated things and increased complexity is the cut off the budget off Kurdistan region by order of Nuri al-Maliki and Haidar Abadi later, for the third year in a row which negatively affected the situation of Syrian refugees as well."
"A large proportion of the Syrian refugees in the camps are receiving assistance from the Barzani Charitable Foundation and the World Food Organization in cooperation with other humanitarian organizations," Khalil said. He added that "these are coupons or checks of up to $ 22 per person per month, 1000 Iraqi dinars, which has reduced the burden of life on refugees in general. "
Also, our speaker confirmed that aid is provided to residents outside the camps by many charities such as Barzani Charity Foundation, Qandil and Harijar in coordination with other international organizations and local organizations.
Khalil pointed out that relief activity in helping Syrian refugees receded recently especially after the wave of displacement from Mosul and Chenkal and other areas. Still, Syrian refugees camps hardly lack anything especially Dumez a and 2 Koalan camp Kafarkoz camps and Dar Shokran and others. The camps include in addition to shops, schools and cultural forums hospitals and clinics subordinate to the government where Syrians work as teachers, doctors and specialists. Also, government hospitals receive patients in the cities like Azadi Educational Hospital and Emergency Hospital in Dohuk where refugees are exempted from fees in general.
Our speaker, who have lived in Kurdistan for 12 years and managed to complete his studies at the Faculty of Management and Economics at the University of Dohuk pointed out that the Syrian students in Kurdistan enjoy many privileges and are envied by the original Kurdish students, including exemption from various tuition fees and providing internal departments throughout the academic year.
They are offered a financial support on a monthly basis, and these privileges - as he says - encouraged Syrian students to complete their studies, which they were deprived from in Syria since they are considered from the foreigners in Hasaka Province.
The first wave of Syrians refugees escaping to the Kurdistan region began after the uprising in Qamishli in March 2004 and a camp was established for the displaced, which included the families who escaped from the brutality of the Assad regime. The second wave began - as our speaker confirms - with the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011 and initially included thousands of Young men fleeing compulsory conscription before they were followed by the tens of thousands of war fugitives who were housed in the Dumz camp.
Currently, the Kurdistan region comprises about 10 large Syrian refugee camps except in addition to small communities. However, the largest share of refugees is in Dohuk and Hawler (Arbil), which alone accounts for 47 percent of the Syrian refugees in Iraq.
Khalil stressed that the situation of the Syrian refugees in the Kurdistan region is a model to be emulated in terms of treatment and services and freedom available to them and equality and exemption from all medical and academic fees and and he expressed hope that the media will convey this positive image for others to benefit from.
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