Requests for assistance to help stranded migrants lured to Iraq
under false pretences or unknowingly taken to work there by
unscrupulous recruitment agencies are unable to be met as funds for
such assistance have dried up this year.

IOM is urgently seeking US$2.5 million to help up to 700
destitute migrants, some of whom have been trafficked to Iraq for
labour exploitation, to return home in the next two years.

In previous years, the Organization has been able to assist many
hundreds of desperate migrants each year to return home. In 2009,
only 32 migrants have been assisted through an emergency fund to
provide humanitarian assistance to individual migrants stranded in
another country.

"We know there are large groups from different nationalities
whose situation is really dire. Life for Iraqis is difficult. It is
worse for migrants. This is an issue that needs specific address,"
says Mike Pillinger, IOM Chief of Mission for Iraq.

Despite Iraq's instability and difficult security and
socio-economic conditions, the country is, nevertheless, a
destination country for migrants from mainly Asia and Africa.

Many are lured by the possibility of making easy money in
sectors like construction, carpentry and domestic labour. Migrants
from countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Uganda are often
coerced to sign false employment contracts once in Iraq. Their
passports are confiscated and they become victims of exploitation
and abuse, working in inhumane conditions. For the privilege, they
have had to pay exorbitant recruitment fees which have put them and
their families in debt.

Others had used recruitment agents to go to the Middle East or
the Gulf but ended up in Iraq against their will, in similarly
abusive situations.

In other cases, such as for Sudanese migrants who have lived in
Iraq for several years, the deterioration in employment conditions
has left them penniless with few opportunities, poor guarantees and
no means to return home.

IOM has helped more than 7,000 migrants of nearly 40 different
nationalities in the past six years. As funding has dried up, the
number of stranded migrants needing assistance has increased
although the true scale of the problem is unknown. 

"It will be impossible to get a really clear picture on numbers
of migrants needing help as many are too scared to try and seek
help because of possible repercussions. What we do know is that
there are hundreds of extremely vulnerable people each year who
need help and who are not getting it. Not being able to help them
is extremely hard," adds Pillinger.

For further information, please contact:

Rex Alamban

IOM Iraq

Tel: +00962 65659660

E-mail: "mailto:ralamban@iom.int">ralamban@iom.int