On September 16, law students of Duhok University, through the KCIL’s Community Participatory Approach (CPA), arranged a panel discussion on illegal migration and its severe repercussions from legal and social perspectives, with the participation of more than 150 participants in Duhok University. At the outset, Dr. Evin Khalid, Dean of the College of Law, delivered a welcoming speech, stressing that “this initiative is a productive step amongst youths for enhancing public understanding of the risks of migrant smuggling and the ways to address them, and this step is not less than those rapid responses that are taken by the relevant official bodies to curb illegal migration in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).” Subsequently, student Fahd Abid presented their group’s aims to cope with this issue, especially amongst youths.

Through the panel discussions that were moderated by student Hamdia Jerdo, a Yazidi women, and Dr. Saadi Yahya highlighted migrant smuggling from a law perspective through turning to KRI judicial system and the necessities for enacting specified bills on this matter that ensure human rights principles to the victims and criminalize the smugglers for hindering illegal migration. Respectively, Dr. Abdullah Juma shed light on the political aspects of this issue. It aligns with multidimensional analysis of illegal migration from economic and societal lenses by Dr. Kawa Abdulaziz and Dr. Zubaida Sayed Salih from Duhok University. Remarkably, the panel discussions and audience arguments led to concluding doable recommendations and pathways to address illegal migration in the KRI. It is worth noting that this group of law students at Duhok University recently prepared a brochure on the dangers of illegal immigration from a legal perspective, which was distributed in several public places across Duhok Province.

The KCIL, through the CPA approach, made a power shift and backstopped the grassroots groups who have common concerns to address their communities' challenges by facilitating them with project blueprints and identifying the roots of the issues that emerged from their communities. Hereby, this approach stressed social integrity in creating avenues for the youth groups to find effective solutions that are consistent with society’s needs to avert potential crises.