Duplicate Names & Fake Identities Hinder Security Forces' Salaries

Reports 02:20 PM - 2024-07-18

A peshmerga

According to a member of the Finance Committee of the Iraqi parliament, the list of salaried employees in the Peshmerga Ministry contains over 23,000 fake identities and non-Iraqis, which is the reason behind the federal government's delay in disbursing salaries for the ministry. 

In a statement, the 70th Forces denied the presence of fake Peshmergas, retirees, or foreign individuals among their ranks. Furthermore, they asserted their readiness to directly submit the salary list of their forces to the federal government, if required. 

On the other hand, the Deputy Chairman of the Peshmerga Committee in the fifth session of the Kurdistan Parliament said: "A particular group in the Kurdistan Parliament obstructed our efforts to make reform to the salary list of the Peshmerga forces, although the 70th Forces provided us with their support for this reform."

 

The presence of fake identities and foreigners delays security forces' salaries

Soran Omar, a member of the Finance Committee of the Iraqi parliament, told PUKMEDIA: "The delay in providing the salaries of the Peshmerga forces is due to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) refusal to provide Baghdad with the names of the Peshmergas in the salary list. Nevertheless, due to the pressure imposed by the Iraqi Financial Supervision Bureau, the KRG ultimately had no choice but to provide the names. Moreover, it became evident that a significant number of fake peshmergas, retired individuals, and foreign troops are included in the salaries of the Peshmerga forces."

"The report from the Iraqi Financial Supervision Bureau reveals the presence of over 23,000 fake and duplicate identities, retired employees, and foreign troops within the Peshmerga Ministry. This situation has resulted in the federal government withholding the salaries of the security forces," he added.

Regarding the statement of the 70th Forces, Mr. Omar said: "This decision is a positive move that benefits the Peshmerga forces. It corresponds to the decision made by the Federal Court, which allows any institution to directly send the list of their employees to the Iraqi Finance Ministry without having to go through the KRG. As a result, the employees will receive their salaries from the Iraqi ministry."

 

70th Forces supported the reform process of Peshmerga's salary list

In the previous session of the Kurdistan Parliament, there was an effort to make reforms to the salary list of the Peshmerga Ministry. However, only the 70th forces showed cooperation, while the 80th forces remained silent on this matter. 

Osman Sedari, the Deputy Chairman of the Peshmerga Committee in the fifth session of the Kurdistan Parliament, stated to PUKMEDIA: "In the previous session, we made multiple attempts to rectify the salary list by removing fake identities and foreigners. However, our efforts were impeded by a party claiming to represent the majority."

He further stated: "Our Peshmerga Committee's investigations, in collaboration with the 70th Forces, have confirmed the absence of any foreign troops inside their ranks. Furthermore, they have provided valuable assistance in preventing fake identities. However, we were unable to investigate the presence of foreign troops and fake identities among the 80th Forces since we did not observe this support there."

The member of the Kurdistan Parliament also said that the KRG was greatly burdened by the presence of foreign forces in the Peshmerga Ministry, and hundreds of people were being paid on behalf of the ministry despite being affiliated with other forces, and had no role in defending the Kurdistan Region.  

 

The 70th forces deny the presence of any fake or foreign peshmergas in their ranks 

The 70th Forces Command has released a statement regarding the salaries of the Peshmerga forces. It emphasised the need to prevent any further delays in their salaries, as has occurred in previous months. The Command stated that it is prepared to take all necessary steps, including sending the Peshmergas' salary list directly to the Federal Ministry of Finance, in order to guarantee that they receive their salaries on time.

 The statement of the 70th Forces Command is as follows: 

Providing the security forces and Peshmerga with their monthly salaries for May and June as a financial benefit for their efforts in protecting the Kurdistan Region and combating terrorism in Iraq is a positive matter that will motivate Peshmerga to continue serving the country.
 
We hope that there will be no further obstacles to this procedure between the Ministries of Finance in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. 

We, the commanders of Kurdistan's 70th forces, would want to emphasise once more that there are no members of our forces who are not Iraqi citizens. Moreover, there are no false identities among our forces; everyone is a legitimate member. This is especially valid following the successful completion of the biometric registration procedure. 

Therefore, we clearly state our readiness to provide the salary list, containing the names of our Peshmerga employees, along with the necessary details and documentation essential for the payment of salaries for the current month of July. Furthermore, we firmly assert that we will no longer tolerate the withholding of Peshmerga families' salaries and livelihoods due to unclear data and information. If the Federal Ministry of Finance received our lists directly, we have taken all necessary measures to deliver them and we are confident in the accuracy of our information and data. 

According to a statement released by the KRG's Ministry of Finance, the majority of the security forces have experienced a delay in receiving their salaries, receiving only one payment in over 100 days. Specifically, on June 12, 2024, they received their salaries for the month of April. The reason was that the Iraqi Finance Ministry requested a new list of security forces from the KRG in order to pay their salaries. 



PUKMEDIA