INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

What does it cost to leave the country with the help of a human smuggler, and what are the results of that for the life of the family of the person who leaves? What does it mean for a country when someone who had a good education leaves? Is life in Europe really so much better than in Kurdistan - how much does one earn there, what is the cost of living and what is the comparison with the situation in Kurdistan? All questions that were covered during the one day workshop on the Economics of Illegal Immigration, that IMCK and STATT organised on October 24, 2012 in Duhok. International trainer Maaike Veen talked about the statistics and backgrounds. Goran Sabah gave a briefing for STATT on the statistics of (illegal) immigration. IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle was the moderator of the day, and he worked with the 18 participants - mostly young journalists - on how to write stories on the subject.

Eddy van Wessel stayed for a second training in Kirkuk, where he worked with a group of eleven journalists on how to make a photo story on illegal immigration. The workshop was a cooperation between IMCK and STATT, to inform journalists about the issues concerning (illegal) immigration. The training started on September 27, 2012 at the offices of the Youth Media Centre in Kirkuk. For STATT, Hazhar Taha and Goran Sabah gave the participants information about illegal immigration, statistics and consequenses of immigration for the immigrants and their families, while Van Wessel focused on the photo story and gave technical advice to the photographers. For photo's of the workshops see Facebook . They, and others, are invited to submit their photo stories for a prize and a place at a special exhibition in December in Erbil that STATT and IMCK will organize in coordination with the KRG Minister of Culture. The best three photo stories on illegal immigration will be part of th...

Photo stories to tell the story behind illegal immigration. That is the main idea of an exhibition by IMCK that was opened on June 20, 2012 by AP photographer Yahya Barzinji, in the Red Prison in Sulaymaniya. The exhibition was the result of a workshop on photo stories and illegal immigration, organised by IMCK and STATT in Sulaymaniya in May 2012. The participants of the workshop were asked to produce a photo story on the subject. The work of three winners is now to be seen at the exhibition room of the Red Prison. Yahya Barzinji talked about the importance of photo stories for Kurdish media. It is a form that is not used very much yet, but has the possibility to show often complicated subject in simple pictures. He offered the price of 500 dollars to the winner, Zmnako Ismaell, who made a photo story about a Kurd who got shot by the border guards when he tried to flee illegally to Iran, which resulted in him loosing a leg. The runner up was Halwest Azad, who made a black and ...

IMCK and STATT conducted a second workshop of a day on Feature writing in Erbil, on June 7, 2012, with Goran Sabah (in the picture) as one of the trainers, and Khaled Suleiman as the other  Around 12 journalists took part, to learn how to make a feature story, and at the same time be informed about the different aspects of illegal immigration. The theme of the workshop is 'leaving home', as many young Kurds decide to go to Europe to find a better life. Many now get stranded because asylum is only available for those who are in real danger. Information about the subject was provided by specialists from UNHCR and STATT.

June 6, IMCK started in cooperation with STATT two workshops on writing feature stories on illegal migration. The first workshop is held in Sulaymaniyah. Fifteen journalists attend the workshop. On June 7 the second workshop will take place in the capital of Kurdistan, Erbil. Many young people in Iraqi Kurdistan want to leave the country. But as visas are hard to come by, many use smugglers and buy passports with a visa. This illegal migration has many bad consequences. Both for the host countries and maybe even more for the illegal migrants. Besides the risk of being detained and deported, people risk to be trafficked for exploitation. Men and women can end up in illegal prostitution or laboured slavery. Therefore IMCK wants to inform Kurdish journalists about the problems. STATT is involved by providing experts on illegal migration, which provide the background information and expand the knowledge of the participants on the subject. Issues like data on illegal migration fro...

On May 9, the photography workshop on illegal immigration IMCK organized in Sulaymaniyah in cooperation with STATT has been finalized. It was the first step in the project on illegal immigration. In total eleven participants received a certificate issued by IMCK. The trainer was Eddy van Wessel, a Dutch photographer who has won international prizes. See the movie about the workshop See our Facebook for pictures and more information about other workshops.