From a Centre of Tourism and Culture to a Ruin of Corruption

Ali Hemn Jazhna – Activist

In the years before the devastating wars, and particularly around a century ago, Iraq was one of the wealthiest and most developed countries in the Middle East. Thanks to its ancient historical sites such as Babylon and Ur, as well as the Baghdad Museum, hundreds of thousands of European and Arab tourists travelled to Iraq for holidays and sightseeing. It also had a highly developed education and healthcare system that was considered a regional leader.

After 2003, instead of rebuilding Iraq and restoring it to its former golden age, political corruption and a dysfunctional system of power plunged the country into unprecedented destruction.

The Collapse of Basic Services

A country blessed with two great rivers—the Tigris and the Euphrates—and which exports millions of barrels of oil is now suffering from shortages of electricity and clean water.

The Loss of Tourism

The country’s ancient historical sites and natural attractions have lost the attention of international tourists as a result of neglect and the lack of security.

Following the arrival of Kurdish and Arab gangs and the looting of the country’s wealth, hundreds of billions of dollars in oil revenues have allegedly been squandered by fictitious companies and those in power.

Furthermore, the policies of the KDP and PUK in the Kurdistan Region, which have taken control of the Region’s wealth and revenues, have pushed Kurdish cities towards even greater deterioration than that experienced in other parts of Iraq. Kurdistan has seen an even greater concentration of corruption, while people’s living conditions have deteriorated day by day as a result of the lack of clean water, electricity, employment, salaries and basic public services.

To this day, people continue to suffer from what the author describes as the corruption of the KDP and PUK gangs, to the point where large numbers of people have turned towards Europe in search of a better life.

Oppression, injustice and unemployment have driven young people from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region towards Europe, forcing them into displacement. They leave a homeland where, instead of a patriotic government, the author argues that a mafia-like system of power has taken root—one that has treated people as its servants and, through hunger and poverty, has driven brothers to turn against one another.

The KDP and PUK have plundered the wealth of the people through the sale of oil and gas and through the revenues of the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Turkey, as well as the Bashmakh and Parwezkhan border crossings with Iran. According to the author, these crossings are controlled by the two ruling Barzani and Talabani families, who allegedly take enormous sums of money from them every month despite these being public revenues.

At the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing, which is controlled by the KDP, between $75 million and $100 million per month is allegedly stolen and disappears without trace. At the Parwezkhan border crossing, controlled by the PUK, the figure is alleged to be between $10 million and $20 million per month.

In addition, taxes and government fees, as well as the cost of water and electricity, have increased to such an extent that living in the Kurdistan Region has become increasingly difficult because of unemployment, unpaid salaries and the rising cost of goods.

As a result, the rate of divorce cases in the courts is increasing day by day because of the problems that, according to the author, the two ruling Barzani and Talabani families have created for the people.