Frustration builds as Iraq's airports remain closed amid rising virus cases
Many foreigners and Iraqis are unable to return home, including those who have lost jobs amid the pandemic.
When Iraqi aviation authorities first closed airports to commercial passenger flights March 17 in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, they only gave about a day’s notice. With flights already limited regionally, many got stuck. The first ban was set to end March 24. But it has been continuously extended since.
Basheer Talib is an engineer from Baghdad who was working in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, when the airports closed. He is stranded, unable to return to his family in Baghdad due to the closure and an interprovincial travel ban.
