BAGHDAD — The Iraqi parliament this month is discussing a bill to find solutions to its expanding slum areas. However, several obstacles could hinder this bill from being passed into law amid an ongoing social and political crisis.

Iraq has more than 5,000 slum areas, containing more than half a million housing units, inhabited by approximately 3.5 million people. Most of these slum areas were established with the emergence of the current political regime in 2003.

The search for a solution started in 2014, member of parliament Alia Nassif told Al-Monitor, with a plan to lease the land of informal settlements to their impoverished residents for a small fee. The slum areas lack public services such as paved streets, schools, water, electricity, and other basic needs, she said, and residents “are unable to register their children or complete certain formalities at government institutions.” 

Iraq's current housing crisis has driven the price of a square meter in commercial centers in Baghdad up to $20,000, one real estate broker told Euronews, against $600 in the outskirts of cities.