Shkoi Kurdistan-
Asayish (security) forces have been sent to the Parvizkhan crossing in the Garmiyan administration, the border crossing spokesperson told Rudaw on Sunday evening, following a decision from Kurdistan Region Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani to deploy security forces at border crossings to combat smuggling.
“Our border crossing is clear [of smuggling] now. There was no issue here. We’ll meet with the forces on Monday,” said Abbas Ismael.
The Kurdistan Region has four official border crossings. Three are on the Kurdistan Region-Iran border – Haji Omaran in Erbil province, Bashmakh in Sulaimani province, and Parvizkhan in the Garmiyan administration – and one, the Ibrahim Khalil crossing, is on the Kurdistan Region-Turkey border. There are also many other unofficial border crossings.
Talabani’s decision will also put some security measures in place at Bashmakh and other, unofficial, border crossings in Sulaimani.
Talabani’s office told Rudaw on Sunday that the decision is “an important initiative.”
“The deployment of the force is intended to combat smuggling and lawbreaking, and to combat anyone working outside the government’s instructions,” it said.
In September 2020, a network that smuggled hundreds of millions of dinars’ worth of goods into the Kurdistan Region through the Parvizkhan crossing was uncovered after an investigation by the Kurdistan Region’s finance ministry and customs directorate.
Three weeks later, a spokesperson for Qubad Talabani announced that the government had formed a committee to study the issue of smuggling “in detail.”
Several lawmakers from the Kurdistan Region have raised the issue of smuggling as a source of government corruption.
Bahjat Ali Spindari, a member of the parliament’s finance committee said: “A large proportion of the Kurdistan Region’s revenue is wasted. Some people and gangs used to take it. This [decision] supports efforts to prevent extortion at border crossings and other places.”
“My investigation indicates that about 30 to 40 percent of the revenue will return to the government. Smuggling was one of the dangerous ways of wasting the government’s revenue. Let’s see if this initiative works,” said Omar Golpi, another member of the finance committee.
Masoud Batelli, the head of the Haji Omaran border crossing in Erbil, told Rudaw the crossing has not received any orders concerning the deployment of forces.
