In Iraqi Kurdistan, the migration crisis provokes that of marriages – Liberation

In the dark cabin of a car discreetly parked at the bottom of a deserted alley, Shadi Hussein tries to tame his nerve hands, with short and gnawed nails. « It is difficult to be a young Kurdish woman, we still live in a very conservative society », she confides with her hoarse voice, like a preamble. Outside, a thick night fell on the village of Saruchawa, in the district of Ranya, in the northeast of Iraqi Kurdistan, and only a phone lamp allows you to discern the lines of its face with high and round cheekbones.

“I am 27 years old, and I cannot be seen alone outside. At home, I couldn’t say what I have on my heart ”, she explains to justify this meeting discreetly. She sketches a sad smile, then adds: “I would like to be able to get married, but there are no more men here. And as I get older, I’m afraid that my father will force me to become the second wife of an already married man. « 

In this marginalized region, housed in the hollow of the steep mountains that line Iran, a deep and silent crisis shakes the balance of Kurdish society. In the streets, all are suitable for: for a few years, the massive migration of young men to the EUR