Latest news with #AhmedAl-Asadi
Shafaq News
01-05-2025
- Business
- Shafaq News
Labor Day: Iraq to launch crackdown on illegal foreign workers
Shafaq News/ Iraq will launch a major inspection campaign targeting thousands of illegal foreign workers, Labor Minister Ahmed Al-Asadi revealed on Thursday. Marking International Labor Day, Al-Asadi expressed his ministry's commitment to defending workers' rights and improving living standards, warning that tens of thousands—possibly hundreds of thousands—of undocumented foreign workers are active across Iraq. 'We'll begin a large-scale crackdown in coordination with relevant agencies and labor unions,' he told Shafaq News. Illegal Labor In Iraq The influx of undocumented foreign labor from countries like India, Bangladesh, Syria, and Pakistan has raised concerns about its impact on Iraq's economy. According to the Strategic Center for Human Rights, approximately one million illegal migrant workers are in Iraq, with only 43,000 registered with the Ministry of Labor as of 2024. These unregistered workers are estimated to remit $4.2 billion annually, significantly affecting the national economy. A 2025 report by Shafaq News highlighted that foreign labor is expanding rapidly in various sectors, including restaurants, cafes, cleaning services, and even state institutions. This surge has deepened the unemployment crisis, leaving 15 million local workers struggling to secure opportunities. In response, Iraq is stepping up efforts to tackle the issue, with authorities currently reviewing the records of all foreign workers. In 2024, 32,000 undocumented laborers were deported. Additionally, nearly 700 foreign nationals were arrested for violating the Foreigner Residence Law No. 76 of 2017 after their grace period expired. The Interior Ministry has urged companies, professionals, craftsmen, tradespeople, restaurant owners, and anyone housing undocumented foreigners to ensure their deportation. Experts, however, warn that these efforts have been insufficient, criticizing the government's failure to implement investment conditions requiring foreign companies to employ 50% local labor in their projects.
Iraqi News
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Iraq competes with the Gulf States for foreign labor
Baghdad ( – The Iraqi Minister of Labor, Ahmed Al-Asadi, disclosed in a televised interview that Iraq started to compete with the Gulf States in the number of housekeepers and foreign labor. According to a Baghdad 360 report, Al-Asadi stated that the number of foreign workers in the country has risen to 800,000. Al-Asadi said that the bulk of foreign workers in Iraq are Syrians and that 90 percent of these workers are employed in restaurants in the capital, Baghdad. This has a significant impact on Iraqi workers and contributes to the country's rising unemployment rate, according to Al-Asadi. The majority of Syrian workers in Iraq entered the country illegally, mainly through the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The number of illegal workers in factories, oil industries, and other workplaces is rising, according to the report. Iraqi officials launched a massive crackdown on foreigners they claimed were not adhering to residence regulations in March 2024. After raids on their homes and places of employment, a large number of Syrians were arrested and deported, according to Rudaw News. According to data from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), Iraq is home to over 260,000 Syrian refugees, of which over 254,000 are in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Shafaq News
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq: Most Syrian workers are undocumented
Shafaq News/ Iraq is working to regulate foreign labor, but Syrian workers have been excluded, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al-Asadi, announced on Thursday. 'We have taken steps to correct the status of foreign workers, but Syrians have not benefited because they did not enter through official channels,' he explained in a televised interview. Most Syrian workers, he noted, entered Iraq illegally, either through smuggling routes or from the Kurdistan Region, making up 80-90% of employees in Baghdad's restaurants. 'The number of Arab and foreign workers in Iraq exceeds 800, 000,' Al-Asadi stated, stressing that Iraqi law requires employers to hire one Iraqi worker for every foreign worker. A video recently circulated showing a masked group assaulting Syrian workers in Iraq. In response, the government announced it would pursue legal action against members of an armed faction identified in the video. Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces have begun monitoring social media accounts and arresting Syrians accused of promoting terrorism, following a surge in violence along Syria's coastal region. Security sources reported that authorities had also issued directives to scrutinize the records of all Syrians in Iraq, particularly those with expired residency permits
Iraqi News
30-01-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
Minister of Labor: Iraq prioritizes enhancing cooperation with international and regional organizations
Baghdad - INA Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ahmed Al-Asadi confirmed today, Thursday, that Iraq places enhancing cooperation with international and regional organizations at the heart of its priorities. A statement by the ministry - received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) - stated that "Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Ahmed Al-Asadi, discussed during his meeting with the Director-General of the Labor Center affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Azar Bayramov, ways to enhance joint cooperation, on the sidelines of his participation in the International Labor Market Conference held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh." Al-Asadi stressed - according to the statement - "the importance of the vital role played by the Labor Center in addressing issues that affect broad segments of society," stressing that "the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Iraq is ready to cooperate in various related fields, including labor policies, training, and capacity development, to achieve common goals and enhance partnership between the two sides." Al-Asadi added that "Iraq places enhancing cooperation with international and regional organizations at the heart of its priorities, and seeks to employ its accumulated expertise to serve labor and social development issues." For his part, Bayramov expressed his "appreciation for the efforts of the Republic of Iraq," praising "it being one of the first countries to ratify the center's bylaws, which contributed to its entry into force." He stressed that "the Labor Center is ready to provide its programs and services in various fields, including developing labor policies, vocational training, and capacity building," expressing his "keenness to expand the horizons of cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and benefit from the expertise of its qualified staff." Bayramov praised "the historical status of Iraq, especially Baghdad, which has been a beacon of civilization in the Islamic world throughout the ages," noting that "this historical legacy is an incentive for more fruitful cooperation in serving labor and social development issues."
