Displaced Iraqis Create Boom for Used Goods

Many of the larger second hand trading businesses get the used clothing in the form of large bales. They are known as “baleh” in Arabic, which is actually just a form of the English word, bale. In Arabic, baleh is a catch all phrase for any used goods. The bales of clothing come from more affluent countries, from Europe or the US and they often come to Iraq via the United Arab Emirates. Then the bales tend to be brought to Baghdad where they are sold on to traders.

“Demand for these kinds of goods has gone up dramatically because of the collapse in the Iraqi dinar's value,” another second hand trader who didn't want to be identified for business reasons, told NIQASH – new and imported items are just too expensive, especially for low income families and Iraq's internally displaced.

“Sometimes we go to camps or other areas where there are many displaced families to sell and display our goods so they don't have to come to the market,” the trader continued. “We know these families are living in extremely difficult conditions and that they can barely cover their expenses. They live on donations and we hope that by bringing the second hand goods to them, we can be a little helpful.”

Local donors are also helping the second hand market thrive.

“Every now and then we do campaigns where we collect money and clothing from well-off families in the district,” says Najat al-Waeli, who heads the Women's Horizon organisation based in Kut; most of the charity's work is focussed on helping displaced women in the area. “In some cases we collect money and we buy the piles of clothes ourselves to distribute to the families.”