ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi-controlled checkpoints are accused of systematically harassing Kurdish drivers travelling to the capital city of Baghdad. Witnesses told Rudaw of incidents involving checkpoint security officers cursing and threatening vehicles carrying Kurdish passengers.
One driver from Erbil told Rudaw that he was refused entry to Baghdad since he was travelling from the Kurdish town of Duz, southeast of Kirkuk.
“They insulted us a lot and threatened to smash the windows of my car,” said the driver, who wished to remain unidentified. “They told us they were only doing what Kurdish checkpoints had already been doing against Arab visitors to the Kurdistan Region,” he added.
More than 50 vehicles with Kurdish drivers are now in Duz awaiting permission to enter Baghdad.
“Carrying passengers between Baghdad and Erbil is what we do for a living,” said one stranded driver in Duz. “What can we do while they keep insulting us,” he added.
Kurdish security checkpoints usually conduct overlong inspections of vehicles entering the Kurdistan Region from the rest of Iraq for fear of explosives and terror attacks. Arab visitors have in the past raised concern over alleged discrimination against them at the Kurdish checkpoints, accusing security staff of intentionally delaying Arab travellers. Authorities in Kurdistan have rejected the accusations and defended their inspections as preventive measures.
The Kurdistan Region has maintained a relatively good security record, even after the jihadist rampage across much of Iraq. Suicide bombings have been remarkably rare and no foreign national has been killed in any terror attack in Kurdistan since 2003.
Thousands of wealthy Arab families left war-torn Baghdad in the past few years and settled in major Kurdish cities with notably better security. The influx to Kurdistan of affluent Arab families, who often also purchase homes when they arrive, has helped push up real estate prices and add to public frustration.
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