Strict measures to reduce foreign labor and reduce unemployment rates

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[size=52]Strict measures to reduce foreign labor and reduce unemployment rates[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Saif Al-Hur[/size]
[size=45]“We are going from bad to worse,” says one of the unemployed in Baghdad, Alaa Al-Rubaie, 35, who lost his job months ago due to what he called “government negligence” in dealing with the crisis of the spread of foreign labor in Iraq. The government is in poor planning after more than 500,000 foreign workers entered the country officially or through smuggling.[/size]
[size=45]The high unemployment rates among Iraqi youth, in conjunction with the entry of large numbers of foreign workers, prompted the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to take a series of measures as part of its endeavor to regulate the labor market in the country. The measures included granting foreign workers in Iraq 45 days to settle their legal status.[/size]
[size=45]The new measures also include penalties for labor recruitment companies that violate the ministry's decision. The long-term goal that economists hope will be reflected in reality is to stop the recruitment of such labor and reduce the proportions of those present in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Commenting on these decisions, Member of Parliament Rafik Al-Salihi says, "The decision of the Ministry of Labor regarding foreign labor is fair to local labor."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Salihi added, "We support the approach of the Ministry of Labor regarding its decision related to the equality of local labor with foreign workers, which used to seize great opportunities, especially within the oil companies operating in Iraq."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "these decisions would limit and reduce unemployment, which has increased alarmingly in the past few years."[/size]
[size=45]For his part, a spokesman for the Ministry of Labor, Najm Al-Aqabi, indicated that "the ministry's decision includes foreign companies operating in Iraq, and there will be great emphasis on its implementation." Pointing out that “legal penalties will affect all violators of this decision, which also affected Labor Law No. 37 of 2015.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Aqabi noted that "Iraq has approximately 160,000 foreign workers officially registered by the Ministry."[/size]
[size=45]Malath Al-Amin, a specialist in economic affairs, explains that “this decision will contribute to absorbing part of the unemployment by providing large job opportunities for local workers.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "a large percentage of graduates do not find jobs, whether in the public or private sector, and there are many factories that have stopped working because there is no market to accommodate them in the presence of imported goods."[/size]
[size=45]And Al-Amin indicated that “reducing or not applying this percentage is an excuse for the rights of workers in Iraq and an injustice to their right, and even more than that, it should be a greater percentage of up to 85 percent.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Asadi said, "The ministerial curriculum talked about priorities, the most important of which are alleviating poverty, addressing unemployment, and paying attention to low-income people."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Asadi added, in a statement carried by the official news agency and followed by Al-Mada, that "our ministry has worked on preparing a program that fits the government curriculum." He pointed out that “the ministry has presented the programs and the mechanism that we deal with,” pointing out that “the real mission of the ministry is to run unemployment, activate the labor market and the private sector, and address unemployment.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Asadi spoke about “a demand to raise the ceiling of soft loans, and we submitted a request to Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani, who approved it and will send it to the House of Representatives for a vote.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "a joint committee has been formed from the ministries of labor, interior, immigration and foreign affairs to issue a decision to limit foreign workers."[/size]
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