ERBIL- Kurdistan Region - Workers from Iran’s Kurdish-majority western areas (Rojhelat) are increasingly crossing into the Kurdistan Region, particularly the eastern Sulaimani province, in search of seasonal employment, as unemployment and economic hardship continue to weigh heavily on families across the border.
Many travel to Penjwen district in northeastern Sulaimani, where demand for agricultural labor rises during the planting season.
Sara Khalil, a worker from Rojhelat, has spent the past four years working on farms in the area.
“Every spring and summer, we come here for five to six months,” she told Rudaw. “Whatever work is available, we do it, including harvesting, planting seedlings, and weeding.”
Despite spending months away from home, Khalil said local residents have made them feel welcome.
“They are very good people. We never feel like outsiders,” she said.
Fatih Salih, who previously worked as a house painter in Rojhelat, said his income in Iran was no longer sufficient to support his family.
“We have made a plan together to work here for four or five years so that our lives can become better,” he said.
Local employers say workers from Rojhelat have become an essential part of the agricultural workforce in the Kurdistan Region.
“This year, more than in previous years, workers from Rojhelat have come here. They have made our job easier in every way,” said Karzan Majid, an employer in Penjwen.
Majid tells Rudaw he has hired around 70 to 80 workers from Rojhelat to work alongside local laborers on his land, earning daily wages ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqi dinars (approximately $20 to $23).
For many Rojhelat workers, the decision to seek employment in the Kurdistan Region is driven by worsening economic conditions in Iran.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Iran’s average consumer price inflation to reach around 69 percent in 2026. Meanwhile, localized data indicates that year-over-year food inflation has surpassed 100 percent, making basic staples unaffordable for many households, especially as the Iranian rial has also fallen to historic lows on the free market, trading at between 1.1 million and 1.75 million rials per US dollar.
Official labor reports further show that youth unemployment has risen above 21 percent. The economic downturn has been accompanied by factory closures, more than 135,000 reported layoffs, recurring power outages, and an increase in labor protests across the country.
In January, workers, retirees, and public employees staged demonstrations in several Iranian cities, including predominantly Kurdish areas, protesting rising living costs, inflation, unemployment, and declining purchasing power.
