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Iraq to test two Nepalis workers smuggled into city amid COVID-19 lockdown

Khabarhub

March 26, 2020

2 MIN READ

Iraq to test two Nepalis workers smuggled into city amid COVID-19 lockdown

Two Nepalis workers lay at the back of the vehicle in Iraq. (Photo: Erbil Traffic Police)

ERBIL: The Erbil Traffic Directorate of Kurdistan in Iraq announced that it had foiled an attempt to smuggle two male Nepalis nationals into the city.

According to the statement issued by Fazil Haji, a traffic police spokesman, “Erbil traffic police checkpoints seized a vehicle on Wednesday morning that was planning to pass two Nepalis workers through the checkpoints and into Erbil in exchange for money.

The statement did not specify where the vehicle had crossed into Erbil province from.Hajj also informed that two Nepalis had been sent for medical examination to assess whether or not they are likely to have contracted coronavirus.

According to the report, this has been the second unsuccessful attempt to smuggle individuals into Erbil province blocked by officials this week.

On Monday, the Traffic Directorate also announced the seizure at one of its checkpoints of a meat delivery vehicle that was carrying 29 individuals from parts of Iraq outside the Kurdistan Region.

According to Haji, the group of nearly 30 male and female Iraqis of Arab ethnicity was discovered during an inspection of the truck. They were planning to enter Erbil without going through medical examinations for COVID-19, he added.

In efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has blocked travel and entry between cities in the Kurdistan Region and the rest of the cities in Iraq with the exception of freight deliveries of food and other necessities.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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