The organization found that many human trafficking victims are being pursued by security institutions and have faced judicial sentences in Iraq. This is despite the fact that they might have been abducted, sold or forced into doing what they were doing, especially in the cases of prostitution and begging, Dyler said.
The Heartland Alliance — in addition to other local and international organizations such as the UN, the Gender Studies and Information Organization and the Rasan Organization for Defending Women’s Rights in Iraqi Kurdistan — called for the enforcement of the human trafficking law that was issued by Iraqi courts in Baghdad. They also noted that Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament needs to ratify the same law, to stop the exacerbation of the phenomenon in the country and prevent it from getting out of control.
These organizations have recently set up a workshop in the city of Erbil to work to achieve their demands and search for ways to spread community awareness against human trafficking in Iraq.
Ramziya Zana, the manager of the project against human trafficking in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, told Al-Monitor that given the rising cases of human trafficking in Iraqi Kurdistan, an increasing number of people are demanding that the government drafts a law on human trafficking. She added that it is hard to give accurate statistics on the cases of human trafficking in Iraq, but what is certain is that these cases are uncontrollable and on the rise.
“Human trafficking operations are not carried out randomly, but in a very organized manner by gangs that are involved in these operations at all levels — including begging, prostitution and organ trafficking. Children are being kidnapped and forced to beg, while young girls are being forced into prostitution in private homes. They all live under dire conditions that resemble slavery,” she added.
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