Unemployment in Iraq is over 60%

IRAQ: Citizens chafe under rising unemployment

BAGHDAD, 1 June (IRIN) - For Abbas Mohamed al-Sakri, the 20 years he
spent studying Arabic literature was "a big mistake" because he remains
unable to get a job with his degree.

"For the past three years, I sent dozens of job applications to
government ministries," said the 28-year-old al-Sakri. "But all were in
vain. Members of influential political and religious parties are given
preference, even though they aren't qualified."

According to Mohamed Taha al-Mousawi, an adviser at the Ministry of
Labour and Social Affairs, the national unemployment rate surpassed 60
percent last year. "And the rate rose further in the first quarter of
this year, as many policemen and army members quit their jobs due to
threats by militants groups," al-Mousawi said. He added that his
ministry had no plans to promote employment until the security
situation had improved.

Iraq's high unemployment rate was also recently acknowledged by the
First Lady. Speaking at an international conference devoted to women in
business in London on 23 May, the wife of President Jalal Talabani
stressed that high unemployment levels made disaffected youths easy
targets for recruitment by extremists.

Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, a respected businesswoman and founder of the
Kurdistan Women's Union, agreed. She warned that that joblessness could
be expected to increase further, especially in central and southern
Iraq. "Unemployment levels have exceeded all limits," she said.

Locals, meanwhile, especially those with big families, complain
bitterly about job scarcity. "I can work only two or three days a week
due to the huge labour pool," said Ahmed Fiza'a, a 25-year-old day
labourer, as he stood amid a group of about 100 workers in Baghdad's
northern Kazimiyah district. "I earn about US $8 a day, and I'm the
eldest in an eight-member family...I have to feed them all."

Last month, a top US General in Iraq said that the only way to defeat
the insurgency and bring stability to the country was by boosting the
economy and creating hope among disaffected young people. "A prosperous
Iraq will be a peaceful Iraq," said Lt. Gen. Pete Chiarelli, commander
of the Multinational Corps in Iraq. "By creating jobs and opportunity,
the government would take away a major source of support for violent
movements."

In the meantime, 28-year-old Omar Salah Jassim has despaired of
government promises, deciding instead to earn his living selling
cigarettes from a wooden stall in a bustling bus station in Baghdad.
"Earning about US $10 a day this way is better than begging at the
government's door," said Jassim, who holds a degree from Baghdad's
University's education faculty.