KRG, UNODC boost cooperation against migrant smuggling

Shafaq News- Vienna

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Friday urged stronger international action against migrant smuggling, calling it a humanitarian and security challenge that requires a coordinated global response.

According to a statement, the KRG Coordinator for International Advocacy, Dindar Zebari, and the head of the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Ilias Chatzis, discussed expanding joint efforts through expertise exchange, institutional training, and wider participation by Iraqi Kurdistan’s institutions in international programs on the sidelines of UN meetings in Vienna.

Zebari reiterated the KRG’s commitment to working closely with the United Nations and international partners, stressing that curbing migrant smuggling depends on addressing its root causes while creating employment opportunities and promoting stability.

Read more: The shifting sands of hope: Iraqi migrants find new paths

Chatzis expressed UNODC's readiness to assist Baghdad and Erbil through technical expertise, institutional support, and specialized training to counter transnational organized crime, with both sides emphasizing closer coordination to strengthen responses to trafficking networks and protect human rights.

International Organization for Migration data show that more than 221,000 people have been affected by human trafficking, while Iraq remains both a source and destination country. Recent figures indicate trafficking has increased in parts of the Kurdistan Region, including a near doubling of organ trafficking cases in 2024.

Iraq's Interior Ministry dismantled 36 organized crime networks involved in human trafficking, labor smuggling, and organ trafficking during the first quarter of 2026.

Read more: 2.3K lives lost: Iraq's grim toll of human trafficking