ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Police in Diyala province said Monday they arrested 42 foreign workers after intercepting a tanker allegedly attempting to smuggle them into the province.
Haytham al-Shamari, a spokesperson for the Diyala police, told Rudaw that tens of Pakistani workers “had come from one of the northern provinces, were concealed inside a tanker, and were discovered and arrested based on intelligence information.”
Police said the tanker was seized at a temporary market in the al-Khalis district’s Jadid Shatt subdistrict.
According to the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, about 47,000 foreign workers are officially registered in Iraq and hold valid work permits. Unregistered workers are deported to their home countries.
Hassan Khawam, a spokesperson for the ministry, told Rudaw on Thursday that over the past two years, Iraq has deported 55,000 foreign workers for working illegally, barring them from re-entering the country for two years.