Following the 25 September 2017 'independence' referendum in the South Kurdistan Region, the political, economic and social crises in the area has increasingly deepened.

The growing problems in the region, inevitably, gave way to the reaction of the people. And a new wave of migration out of the country has begun.

In the eleven months since the referendum, the people of the region have organized many demonstrations and actions trying to find a solution to the problems. People brought their demands to the institutions with these demonstrations.

However, living conditions in the region have not improved and in some cases have worsened. The people of the region ultimately began to leave their houses and migrated in search of a different and better future.

Migrants, who ultimately opt for dangerous routes, to leave behind their poor living conditions, are in fact ending up in what often become roads to death.

The vast majority of migrants tries to reach Europe via Turkey. The “refugee crisis” between Turkey and Europe has pushed many migrants to choose illegal routes.

Many of them either lose their life trying to reach Europe or are caught and handed over to their countries of origin.

Migration increased after the Referendum

According to the information obtained by RojNews from Arî Jalal, representative of the Kurdistan Region Branch for the Iraqi Migration and Immigration Federation, some 73,689 people emigrated from the Kurdistan region from August 2017 to June 2018.

According to the sources, in August 2017, while the referendum debates were being held in the Kurdistan region, the situation was confused and a new wave of emigration resumed.

After the 25 September 2017 referendum on independence, emigration began to increase. By the end of 2017, the number of people who left their houses had reached 49,979.

In the first six months of 2018 alone, some 23,710 people left the region.

According to the information of the Migration and Immigration Federation, only 10,000 people coming from the Kurdistan region are staying in Athens and Thessaloniki refugee camps in Greece.

The number of immigrants who have lost their lives in the last 11 months is unknown, but according to the official figures, 278 of those who have migrated from Iraq and Kurdistan region in the last 7 years have lost their lives.

Of those, only 145 bodies have been recovered, while the fate of the other 133 is unknown.

In addition, 9 immigrants ended their lives because they were exposed to psychological and racist abuse.

According to the Federation, many immigrants detained in Turkey are held in prisons in Izmir, Canakkale and Bodrum.

The exact number of immigrants in prison is unknown.

The arrested immigrants are handed over to Iraq and Kurdistan.

Arî Jalal said that so far around 200 Iraqi and Kurdish immigrants have been sent back to Iraq through Ibrahim Khalil Border Gate.

In October of 2017 alone, 270 immigrants were returned to Iraq and Kurdistan.