There is great hope in Kurdistan but the UK must play a bigger role in assisting development

By Gary Kent

Today the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq releases a report on its second visit in two years to this autonomous region of Iraq which plays a pivotal role in the rebuilding of the country.

Many in the Labour Movement sympathise with the historic goal of an independent Kurdistan but this is fraught with difficulties as Kurds are spread throughout Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria and altering these boundaries could be a bloody affair. That legitimate aspiration will always be in the hearts of Kurds everywhere but our focus is on the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq.

In April, the cross-party group visited the three main cities and met senior political leaders including President Masoud Barzani and the Deputy Prime Minister Imad Ahmed, two of the three Governors, the editor of an independent newspaper, trade union and women’s rights activists, university and business leaders and the Christian Bishop of Erbil as well as visits to two major religious minorities.

The leaders and people of the beautiful, hospitable and resource-rich region of Iraqi Kurdistan have achieved much since their uprising in 1991 and especially since the shadow of Saddam Hussein was finally lifted in 2003.

There is a clear determination to drive regeneration by creating a vibrant market system with social protections and by creating a transparent model of governance.

Although the global credit-crunch and the reduction in the price of oil has adversely affected it, the long-term future is bright for the Kurdistan Region. It has considerable potential thanks to its oil and gas reserves as well as possibly plentiful agricultural resources and tourism in bustling cities with improving tourist facilities as well as rugged mountains and verdant and unspoilt plains. We felt completely safe in the Region.

However, many ministers and President Masoud Barzani mentioned the notable deterioration in relations between the Region and Baghdad, as well as a major improvement in relations with its neighbour and increasingly important trading partner, Turkey. This is a case of two steps forward, one step back for the Kurdistan Region.

Our central conclusion is that the UK, and wider the international community, should play a bigger role in assisting the Region, along with the rest of Iraq, to tap its potential in all these areas. The Kurdistan Region is vital to the success of Iraq and to British foreign policy objectives.

We also met the leaders of the now unified Kurdistan TUC in both Erbil and Sulymaniya. They are social partners with the KRG but have their own concerns. Many women activists were present and vocal at one meeting which indicates the priority given by the trade unions in the Region and in the rest of Iraq to encourage women’s participation. This is a beacon of hope in the Middle East.

One of their major concerns is the need for Iraq as a whole to scrap Ba’athist laws, ignored in the Region, that ban public sector trade unions and to introduce a more liberal Labour code in line with International Labour Organisation standards.

Another is the use of foreign labour. It is estimated that 20% of the workforce is foreign. This is partly because local workers feel that it demeaning to be doing street cleaning and similar jobs. It is also partly because foreign workers are considerably cheaper. The unions support the need for a requirement for foreign companies to train some of the local population.

They are also keen to build better relations with UK unions, especially for training. We note that several Iraqi union leaders have been unable to secure visas for travelling to the UK to attend union conferences. This is a source of great regret and disrupts efforts to build fraternal relations between British and Iraqi unions.

The group seeks to build friendly relations with the region but also raised key problems with ministers and others concerning the need to increase women’s rights, media freedoms and to curb corruption. We found them very willing to discuss these concerns.

The Region is now in the middle of parliamentary and presidential elections which finish on 25th July and which will be an important milestone in developing democratic institutions and practices.

The full report can be read by clicking here.

Gary Kent is a Director of Labour Friends of Iraq and Administrator of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. He writes in a personal capacity.