Iraq's illegal employment agencies
Unregistered recruitment agencies in Iraq bring Asian laborers to work long hours and for wages lower than what Iraqis demand.
BAGHDAD — Zaher Moussa, a producer at the Iraqi Beladi TV channel in Baghdad, has tried to contact employment agencies placing Asian workers in Iraq to interview them about the way they bring foreign labor into the country. He got the agencies’ phone numbers from a website for foreign labor employment and social networking sites, but they refused to talk to him.
“Most of the agencies are not registered with the Iraqi government," Moussa told Al-Monitor. "They bring foreign workers into the country illegally.”
Moussa has also found out that the agencies’ addresses are incorrect, and most only operate over the phone, sending the Asian workers to the companies and shops that want to employ them. Asian workers are brought exclusively through these illegal agencies, which are widespread in Iraq, before they are hired by other businesses.
In Baghdad, Bangladeshi and Indian workers can be found working in various businesses. They are employed in restaurants and cafeterias, as they receive lower wages and work long hours without complaining.
