Iraq battles social welfare fraud amid sham divorces and ongoing poverty struggles

Shafaq News / More than 193,000 individuals fraudulently receiving social protection assistance have been apprehended following the scrutiny of their data with government authorities. Researchers from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs are uncovering dozens of cases daily involving "virtual divorces", a ruse that has proliferated in recent years to illicitly qualify for social care benefits.

The total number of beneficiaries of social care benefits stands at seven million, encompassing over 2.15 million families, with more than 900,000 new families added to social protection in 2023, as disclosed by Dr. Ahmed Khalaf Al-Mousawi, the head of the Social Protection Authority at the Ministry of Labor.

193,000 violators:

Following the examination of new data, it has been revealed – as stated by Al-Mousawi – that there are more than 193,000 individuals fraudulently receiving social protection assistance. These include retirees, daily wage earners, lecturers, and others. In response, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has directed a comprehensive review of all records in the social protection network since its establishment in 2015 until now.

In turn, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Ahmed Al-Asadi, launched a new campaign on January 2nd, called the "Year of Recovery", aimed at auditing all records in the database.

Additionally, in 2023, more than 170 billion dinars were recovered, and these funds, according to Al-Mousawi, will be redirected to newly eligible beneficiaries of social protection assistance.

Education appointments:

Al-Mousawi noted that Diwaniyah and Baghdad are among the highest in terms of violators after scrutinizing data from the Ministry of Education. This is attributed to appointments made for daily wage earners and lecturers.

According to the government debt collection law, the recovered amount from those fraudulently receiving social protection assistance will be collected either in installments over ten years or as a lump sum.

Al-Mousawi added that in case citizens refuse to repay, their assets will be seized. As for ministries, they have administrative procedures and penalties, including the formation of investigation reports and military trials for affiliated individuals.

Sham divorce:

Regarding some wives resorting to "sham divorce" to fraudulently obtain social assistance benefits, Al-Mousawi confirmed that social researchers uncover dozens of such cases daily. There are approximately 200,000 women covered by assistance within the scope of the Social Protection for Women Directorate, and all of them undergo scrutiny, with social workers and local leaders visiting to verify their information.

According to Social Protection Law No. 11 of 2014, recovered amounts are retroactively collected from the date the wife is included in social protection assistance, as they provided inaccurate information.

Sham divorce marks the formal end of the marital relationship before the court, yet the couple remains together under a "marriage contract" performed for them by a religious figure. This phenomenon has notably increased in recent years, becoming a concerning trend in society.

In this context, Sheikh Safaa Al-Baghdadi emphasized, "It is not permissible to deceive the state through 'sham divorce' to receive social welfare benefits, and the same applies to an employee receiving a salary from the state; it is not allowed for them to receive social welfare benefits as well."

Crimes of forgery, fraud, and deception:

Legal expert Qamar Al-Samarrai affirmed what Sheikh Safaa Al-Baghdadi stated, that "sham divorce" is a forbidden practice, constituting deception against both the state and religion.

Al-Samarrai explained to Shafaq News agency that wives used to resort to self-divorce in court, in agreement with their husbands, to obtain the pension of their mother, father, brother, or sister. They would officially divorce themselves in court while maintaining a "religious marriage contract", signifying that they are still married.

Currently, some wives turn to "sham divorce" to fraudulently secure social welfare benefits, constituting a difficult-to-prove crime of deception. If caught, they face punishment under Article 456, which entails imprisonment for three months to five years, according to the court's decision.

Al-Samarrai noted that those seeking registration for social welfare benefits should be aware that owning a modern car, property, salary, or residence would exclude them from eligibility. Therefore, some individuals refrain from registering such possessions in their names, and they may face charges of fraud and deception, as well as forgery if falsified documents are submitted.

Government shortcomings:

In April of last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning revealed that the poverty rate in the country stands at 22%, equivalent to approximately 10 million people, in a nation with a population exceeding 43 million.

Nisan Al-Zayir, a member of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee, attributed the "spread of poverty across Iraq" to the successive governments' failure to provide solutions to this problem. She emphasized the need for opening up investment, activating the private sector, and establishing new institutions to accommodate employees.

Moreover, in a previous statement to the Shafaq News agency, Al-Zayir criticized the government for creating jobs as a way to pacify the public and absorb their discontent, considering these government-generated positions as a disguised form of unemployment that burdens the state budget.

She advocated for a shift towards effective solutions, including investment promotion and the development of the private sector, to address the root causes of poverty in the country.