Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the Basra Provincial Security Committee announced a focus on countering "deviant behaviors" among youth, emphasizing a collaborative approach to curb these trends.

Aqil Talib Al-Fraiji, the Committee’s head, stated in a press briefing that meetings with security leaders have been held to address emerging behaviors and phenomena within Iraqi society, aiming to devise strategies to curb them.

Al-Fraiji explained that deviant behaviors and self-destructive tendencies, “often leading to suicide, have proliferated alarmingly, and fueled by certain subcultures and movements promoting harmful ideas," he said.

He further noted that security agencies are gathering intelligence on these suspicious movements, working to dismantle them as they arise. “Arrests have been made of individuals spreading these toxic ideologies…Addressing suicidal tendencies is particularly challenging, as these incidents often occur in private homes, away from direct security oversight."

"Cooperation with religious, educational, and cultural institutions, as well as universities and Iraqi families, is necessary to raise awareness and reject these harmful behaviors."

Last July, the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment released a report on the state of suicide in Iraq, detailing the causes and confirming that the suicide rate in Iraq remains lower than the global average.

The Iraqi Health Ministry confirmed that in 2017, there were 178 recorded suicides; in 2018, 306 cases; in 2019, 316 cases; in 2020, 233 cases; in 2021, 364 cases; and in 2022, 511 cases.

The head of the Strategic Center for Human Rights, Fadel Al-Gharawi, revealed to Shafaq News Agency that suicide rates for 2023 and 2024 have decreased compared to 2022 in Iraq. "The past three years have seen over 2,000 cases and attempted suicides, with 1,073 recorded in 2022, 700 in 2023, and 300 in the first six months of 2024. From 2016 to 2021, a total of 3,063 suicides and attempts were recorded. The most common methods of suicide include hanging, burning, firearms, drowning, and poisoning."