Entering Karbala: Getting a Visa to US would be Easier

“I got a badge because I am a resident of this area,” explains Kamal, a taxi driver who works inside the old city, who preferred to give only his first name. ”I gave security information and I submitted a guarantee of funds from a bank, of about five million dinars [around US$4,200]. I also had to submit a letter of recommendation from the head of our neighbourhood, as well as references from people I know in the police and security forces.”

Despite the special badge though, Kamal says it’s still hard for taxi drivers to make a living inside the old city. The free buses which take visitors between the two major shrines are a problem, he says. “The police and army staff also compete with us,” he explains. “They use their cars to drive people around after they finish work. And we just can’t compete with them because they have access to almost everywhere in the city.”

The old city is home to a number of important institutions and there’s no doubt that the security wall keeps them safer than they would be outside the old city. But even this is a problem – because locals can’t get to the government departments or banks as they need to. Hassan Hadi, an engineer working for the Karbala city authorities, says relocating some of those important offices to a new complex currently being built on the Karbala-Najaf highway is a good idea: It’s being built so that locals will have easier access, he explains.

“It would be better to keep the old city as a place for religious visitors and for government buildings,” Hadi says.

Because despite all of the above issues, it doesn’t seem that the old city in Karbala will open up any time soon. “It’s a very important area to keep safe,” Salem Hussein, an officer in one of the old city’s security forces, explained. “There are shrines, state-owned banks, government departments and hotels for tourists. The old city has huge gates which can be closed off in any emergency situation – this is done through the cooperation of the security forces and the religious authorities. And because of the current instability in the country neither the government nor the religious authorities are going to want to open up the old city in the near future.”