Arabs flood Kurdistan for cars

Erbil becoming a car sales hub to the rest of Iraq.

Cheaper and more reliable automobiles entice Arabs from middle and southern Iraq to journey to Kurdistan for good deals.

Mahrath, the main center where cars are sold, is overcrowded by car purchasers--many of them Arabs from middle and southern Iraq. The car-selling business is booming as Erbil city has become the main hub of Iraq's car business.

"Currently, 90 percent of our Korean-made car customers are Arabs," said Hakim Muhammad, a car dealer, adding that Korean cars are Iraqi's No. 1 choice because they are cheaper than German or U.S. cars and the quality is good. "Here, if you ask anyone which car is best, they will say BMW. But the majority of Iraqi people cannot afford BMW cars as they are very expensive," Muhammad said.

He said Arabs buying cars here do so for economic reasons. "In other parts of Iraq, car plates are very expensive; one car plate costs US$4,000 to US$5,000, but in Kurdistan the price of a car plate is US$700 to US$800."

In Iraq, vehicle plates are issued by the Ministry of Interior, but Iraqi Kurdistan has its own government and rules. In Kurdistan, cars are guaranteed official papers and ownership, and there are no stolen cars here, said Muhammad. But in other parts of Iraq some cars have bad backgrounds. "Therefore, they [Arabs] are very content when they buy cars here."

Most of the customers from middle and southern Iraq buy old cars. Ali Salman of Baghdad recently shopped for a car manufactured between the "90s to 2000. "New cars are not good for Baghdad as the roads are bad--and when someone has a new car in Baghdad, he always worries it will be stolen." Baghdad citizens prefer Korean cars over German and American cars because they are better on gas.

"Baghdad is very crowded; there is rush hour all the time due to the presence of a lot of checkpoints, and you need an economical car--a car that can operate with little gas. Otherwise, you have to spend a lot of money." Although Iraq is very rich with oil, gas, there is always a shortage. Currently the price of one liter of petrol in petrol stations is about 50 U.S. cents, which for Iraqi people is expensive considering their the average salaries.

Imad Majeed, a car dealer, believes that if a Korean or German car manufacturing company opened a branch and made cars in Kurdistan Region that it would be a good investment. "Kurdistan can become a center to export cars to other parts of Iraq, Syria, Iran, and some Gulf Arab countries," said Majeed.

Despite that fact that the car business is booming in Kurdistan, Majeed has concerns. "There is no joy in driving a car anymore; Erbil is stuffed with cars, and when you go to market you can't find a place to park your car." He often takes a taxi to market to avoid parking issues. "I wish the culture of riding bicycles would come to Kurdistan; it is safer and better for the environment," Majeed concluded.

Recently, the General Director of Kurdistan Region Traffic, Brig. Rizgar Ali, stated that in the past 10 months more than 400 people have been killed in car accidents in Kurdistan Region, including in Kirkuk city, and about 5,000 have been injured. The population of Iraqi Kurdistan Region is about 4 million, while there are almost 1 million vehicles in the region. Drivers say driving is not fun anymore as too many cars operated by poor drivers clog the streets.

A joint statement issued recently by KRG's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Interior said that cars manufactured before 2009 and trucks manufactured before 2005 are 'not allowed to enter Kurdistan Region."

Neither Europe nor Kurdistan is 'our home'

Kurdish asylum seekers in Europe live in despair and fear.

While emigrating to Europe in the 1990s was much more acceptable, it is considerably harder for Kurds to gain asylum at this time.


Kurdish asylum seekers who have lived in Europe for less than four years are not allowed to work. They don?t have health insurance and are living in extremely stressful psychological situation. When a company wants to hire someone, the company should send the person?s papers to the job office so that the person gets insurance, health insurance, and retirement insurance, but when the job office sees the person does not have asylum, it suggests the company hire someone else who does have asylum or citizenship. The job offices in Sweden and Germany have long lists of people who are jobless, and the priority is for European people when it comes to awarding jobs.

Asylum seekers living in a refugee camp in Germany receive 40 Euros and 90 cents monthly from the government. They receive food twice weekly and clothes twice yearly. Many Kurdish people who do not have asylum work illegally. In most of the cases, these workers are exploited by employers who pay them much less than usual.

Bestoon Najm, 23, lives in Stockholm and is from Kirkuk city. He went to Sweden three years ago because the security situation was very bad he still does not have asylum. He works in a restaurant illegally for a Finish boss. "I can't save any money--all the money I earn I spend on daily needs and an apartment. Life here is difficult for us; everything is expensive and you can?t do anything here without money," said Najm. Najm said he has decided to return to Kurdistan permanently at the end of September. "The Swedish government does not give me asylum, and I don't want to waste my youth here."

But some of the refugees are reluctant to return to Kurdistan. "If we go back to Kurdistan, then we have to start from zero," said Zana Abdulwahid, who has been in Germany for six years and still does not have asylum.

"Here in Europe I have no money, and in Kurdistan I have nothing since I left Kurdistan eight years ago. All my friends in Kurdistan who we went to university together now have their own homes and cars, and many of them now are married with children,? said Abdul Wahid, who lives in Munich. ?I am reluctant to go back; if I go back I would feel I am a stranger in Kurdistan and I would feel that I have wasted six years in my life,? he added.

The Globe talked with several Kurdish refugees in Sweden and Germany, and starting from zero is their main reason for not wanting to return to Kurdistan. In Iraqi Kurdistan Region, there are still youths who want to live in Europe; they believe Europe is paradise when it comes to entertainment, and some believe that earning money is easy in Europe.

I advise all Kurdish youths not to come live in Europe; it is madness for a young Kurdish man to try to become a refugee in Europe. Europe is not what you see on TV,? said Kamal Omer, who lives in Munich, Germany, and has asylum.

In the 1990s, emigrating to Europe was a good thing. There was civil war in Kurdistan and two sanctions on Kurdistan--the United Nations embargo, which was against all of Iraq, and Saddam Hussein?s embargo, which was only against Kurdistan Region, said Omer. Omer added that in the ?90s there was no life for people, especially for youths in Kurdistan. But now it is different--now Kurdistan is safe and its economy is growing.

But some have a different view. Alan Bayz from Stockholm says Europe is good in terms of freedom and entertainment. "I wouldnt tell anyone not to come to Europe; if someone wants to live in Europe, he should come and experience it for himself." Bayz admitted that Europe is very difficult if you don't have asylum. "But--beside all the problems--I always have electricity, and I have health insurance and good doctors and medicine, and we don't have these things in Kurdistan."

Currently, a number of European countries, Sweden, Britain, and Germany, are deporting Iraqi refugees. Meanwhile, a group of failed Iraqi asylum seekers who were forcibly deported to Baghdad recently claimed they were beaten by British security staff and Iraqi police. The violence allegedly erupted when the refugees refused to leave a charter flight after it touched down in Baghdad.

Pictures of one of those said to have been injured were released by the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, a London-based organization.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government bans flights returning failed asylum seekers from UK.

The U.K.?s home office deportation flights are being prevented from taking failed asylum seekers directly to Kurdistan Region because of a diplomatic dispute with the KRG. The ban is on incoming flights from the U.K. landing forcibly returned Kurds at the regional airport in Irbil. Political objections and local protests have led to the U.K. Border Agency redirecting the planes to Baghdad. The KRG said it has asked the British government to send only those people who want to go back. It is opposed to forcible deportations.

Re-connection

Walking with my brother……………..in a park in Munich