ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Iraqi interior ministry said Saturday that it had deported around 44,000 foreign nationals who violated the country's residency regulations, as efforts to follow up on violators continue.

"Those who violated Residence Law No. (67) of 2017 were deported, as their number in 2025 reached 43,986 violators," Alaa Abdul Karim, the media director for the ministry's residency directorate, told Iraqi state media on Saturday.

An additional 3,911 were deported in January 2026, according to Abdul Karim, who added that the government's campaign to investigate the phenomenon is still underway.

Iraq has been struggling with a significant increase in unlicensed foreign labor, particularly from Syria.

According to the 2025 nationwide census held in Iraq, the country hosts over 340,000 foreign nationals, most of whom are refugees, predominantly from Syria. According to data published by the labor ministry in August 2024, There are over 40,000 foreign workers in the country.

The labor ministry in March announced that Iraqis must constitute 80 percent of the workforce of companies operating within Iraq, with the remaining 20 percent going to foreign labor.