ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Over the past two years, the Iraqi government has expelled 55,000 foreign workers for working illegally in the country, barring them from re-entering for two years.
The number of foreign workers returned to their countries in 2024 was 20,000, while another 35,000 illegal workers were repatriated last year, Hassan Khawam, spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, told Rudaw on Thursday.
"Once these workers are identified by us, the Ministry of Interior is notified to take legal action against them," Khawan said. "Any illegal worker deported from Iraq is barred from returning for two years.”
Under a 2024 Iraqi Council of Ministers decision, investors and employers are required to ensure that only 20 percent of their workforce are foreign nationals, with the remainder being Iraqis.
Foreign workers must also pay a fee of 250,000 dinars ($166) to work legally in Iraq.
Currently, Khawam said, 47,000 foreign workers are officially registered with the Ministry of Labor.
In November that Iraq had deported more than 35,000 residency violators since the start of 2025.
“The total number of individuals deported from Baghdad between January 1 and November 5 of this year reached 20,033. The number of residency violators deported from other provinces reached 15,620,” bringing the total to 35,652, Brigadier General Alaa Hussein, director of Residence Affairs, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Hussein attributed the increase in deportations “from 500 to more than 1,000 violators per month” to instructions from Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari.
In a separate statement, Iraq’s General Directorate of Civil Status, Passports, and Residence said Shammari had “ordered intensifying efforts [to address illegal migrants] in Baghdad and other provinces,” aiming to “regulate the residency dossier.”
Under Iraqi residence law, individuals who enter the country illegally or fail to comply with deportation orders may face up to one year in prison or fines ranging from 500,000 to 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars (approximately $333–$666).
Last year, Iraq announced a temporary ban on foreign workers from Syria and four South Asian countries.
Speaking to Rudaw, Khawam said, “the decision has been made by the interior ministry.” He confirmed that the ban covers “Syrian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indonesian, and Filipino workers, who will not be permitted to enter Iraq for work purposes.”
Khawam emphasized that the labor ministry will implement the ban and coordinate with the interior ministry to take legal action against violators, adding that “the exact duration of the ban remains unclear, but it falls under the government's broader effort to create [job] opportunities for domestic workers.”