FM: The government is working to enhance cooperation in the field of combating irregular migration

Baghdad - INA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Wednesday that the government is working to enhance cooperation in combating irregular migration and indicated that it interacts in international forums and conferences on the issue.

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political Planning Affairs, Hisham Al-Alawi, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "There are no special agreements on immigration with countries, but the Iraqi government is working to enhance cooperation in the field of combating irregular migration, and caring for Iraqi citizens abroad in accordance with international instruments and international human rights covenants."

He added, "The government interacts in international forums and conferences on the issue of irregular migration in particular and follows up on developments in immigration laws worldwide."

He explained that "the government responded urgently to return Iraqis stranded on the borders of some countries by sending diplomatic teams to issue travel documents and return them to Iraq by operating exceptional flights by Iraqi Airways."

He pointed out that "the Iraqi embassies respond to the repeated drowning incidents in European countries, which claim the lives of dozens of citizens, the latest of which was the drowning incident on the Italian beaches, as our embassy in Rome cooperated with the Italian authorities to transfer the bodies of the deceased and return the surviving Iraqis to Iraq after the bitter tragedy."