Shafaq News- Baghdad
More than 5,000 Iraqis work in mineand unexploded ordnance clearance across Iraq, facing low wages and limitedsocial and health protections despite carrying out one of the country's mostdangerous humanitarian missions, the Eco Iraq Observatory cautioned onSaturday.
The workforce includes men and womenserving in field, administrative, medical, and logistical roles, with mostemployed under temporary contracts that offer little job security.
The observatory highlighteddisparities between Iraqi and foreign personnel in some demining companies. Despite facing the same risks and operating under identical field conditions,foreign employees receive salaries several times higher than their Iraqicounterparts, who perform much of the direct clearance work. According to theglobal database Numbeo, Iraq recorded an average monthly wage of $567 over 2025,ranking ninth among Arab countries.
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The watchdog urged the Ministry ofLabor and other relevant authorities to regulate working hours in the sectorand ensure workers are not subjected to pressure or contract termination fordemanding better conditions or labor rights.
Iraq remains among the world's mostheavily contaminated countries by explosive ordnance. The United Nations MineAction Service (UNMAS) estimates that approximately 2,733 square kilometers ofland remain contaminated, the legacy of successive conflicts ranging from theIran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War to post-2003 violence and militarycampaigns against ISIS.
Official figures record more than30,000 victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Iraq since 2003,including men, women, and children.
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