Advisor to Iraqi PM Hits Out Against Immigration

An advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister has criticised immigration to the country. Mudhar Muhammad Salih told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that foreign workers transfer US$600 million annually out of Iraq, and work in sectors with "limited productivity", while unemployment in Iraq is 16% of the total workforce.

He continued: "We find that the country is teeming with hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, most of whom work in the service sector, which is limited in productivity and weak in generating added value, which is easily compensated by Iraqi labor. This means transferring US$600 million ... annually in exchange for widespread unemployment, which constitutes a drain on the country's financial resources and savings."