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Beirut: ‘Laundering’ Hub for Fake Iraqi University Degrees

Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)
Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)
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Beirut: ‘Laundering’ Hub for Fake Iraqi University Degrees

Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)
Amal Shaaban is seen at her office at the Ministry of Education after her release. (Shaaban's Facebook page)

On Dec. 27, Lebanese security forces arrested a prominent official at the Ministry of Education to investigate suspicions of corruption in equating the certificates of Iraqi students. Around 20 days later, Amal Shaaban, head of the ministry’s Equivalency Department, was released, only to be informed of her dismissal based on a decision signed by Minister of Education Abbas Al-Halabi.

Iraqi sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Shaaban’s dismissal came “in response to pressure exerted by Lebanese and Iraqi parties that threatened several times to stop the aid they provide to the ministry and public schools.”

The incident revealed why Iraqis were clamoring to study at Lebanese universities, sparking a debate about whether Shaaban was a “scapegoat” used to put an end to illicit dealings between influential powers in Baghdad and Beirut.

Suspicions in the case arose at two instances: The first relates to accepting forged high school certificates issued in Baghdad and validated in Beirut, and the other pertains to granting of university and higher education certificates without students attending classes, in exchange for sums of money.

The story began in Iraq, when Shiite parties that assumed power after 2003 discovered that they did not have administrative teams qualified enough to hold advanced government positions.

Iraq’s interests coincided with interests of influential forces in Lebanon that were trying to maximize educational resources as part of an agreement between the two countries that allowed the delivery of oil in exchange for medical and educational services. Thus, Iraqi students poured into Lebanon, which opened more branches of Lebanese universities, and established others specifically for this purpose, while a network of Iraqi brokers arose in Beirut to handle the illegal paperwork.

In Beirut, Amal Shaaban is trying to prove that the decision to dismiss her from her position is illegal, while it is difficult to confirm her innocence or involvement in this file that has lingered for years.

A source close to Shaaban’s legal team explained that she is not seeking to return to her job, “but all she wants is to show that the Minister of Education’s decision is illegal, and then she will submit her resignation from the post.”

A legal source informed of the investigations expected that a decision by the investigating judge will reveal “dozens of forged Iraqi certificates that passed through the Ministry of Education under the influence of political pressure.”

According to the source, the investigations will not be limited to the Ministry of Education, but will include a number of universities where Iraqi students were enrolled before the high school certificates they obtained in their country were equated. Many of those certificates were forged.

The source pointed to a university close to the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, which attracted the largest number of Iraqi students and granted them - within a period of two years - certificates in graduate studies and doctorates that exceeded the total amount of certificates issued across the country in that period of time, raising suspicions.

Moreover, the majority of Iraqis, who applied for the equivalency of certificates and enrollment in Lebanese universities, are employees of Iraqi state institutions. They submitted requests for the equivalency without coming to Lebanon in exchange for huge sums of money, as these certificates allowed them to be promoted in their jobs and benefit from a significant increase in their salaries.

On the other hand, Iraqi sources informed of the investigations say that Beirut has turned into a hub for “laundering degrees,” even for ordinary youths who are not affiliated with political parties.

Simultaneously, a network of Iraqi brokers emerged in Beirut to facilitate “the paperwork.” Some of them enjoy political cover from the pro-Iran Shiite Coordination Framework parties in Iraq and work in Lebanon.

A reliable source from the Iraqi Ministry of Education said their mission was to pass on false secondary school certificates brought by Iraqi students to have them equalized in Beirut in preparation for their admission to Iraqi universities.

The source added that Iraqi authorities have always failed to track down the secondary certificates that have been equated in Lebanon, and the authenticity of most of them is difficult to verify.

According to the testimony of the former Iraqi official, the Iraqi brokers developed a wide network of connections in Beirut extending from “Iraqi embassy employees to leaders in the Amal Movement, and junior officials in the Ministry of Education.”

In July 2021, Iraq signed an agreement with Lebanon to sell one million tons of heavy fuel oil at the global price, with payment being in services and goods.

Four months later, the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education summoned its cultural attaché in Beirut as part of an investigation into the issue of private Lebanese universities granting fake certificates in exchange for money to hundreds of Iraqis, including representatives and officials, a move that prompted the Lebanese Ministry of Education to open its own investigation.

According to AFP, Iraqi students were enrolled at 14 universities in Lebanon, but the number of students at the Modern University of Management and Science, the Islamic University of Lebanon, and Jinan University alone reached 6,000 out of a total of 13,800 Iraqi students.

The Iraqi investigation ended with a halt to dealing with the three universities, according to an Iraqi statement issued on November 11, 2021.

With the formation of the government of Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani at the end of 2022, Iraqi Shiite parties retreated from the university degree market in Lebanon, and the Ministry of Higher Education, led by Naeem Al-Aboudi, encouraged Iraqi students to study in Iraqi private universities, even as he himself holds a degree from the Islamic University of Beirut.

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10 Years after Europe's Migration Crisis, the Fallout Reverberates in Greece and Beyond

File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
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10 Years after Europe's Migration Crisis, the Fallout Reverberates in Greece and Beyond

File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)
File photo: Migrants of African origin trying to flee to Europe are crammed on board of a small boat, as Tunisian coast guards prepare to transfer them onto their vessel, at sea between Tunisia and Italy, on August 10, 2023. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)

Fleeing Iran with her husband and toddler, Amena Namjoyan reached a rocky beach of this eastern Greek island along with hundreds of thousands of others. For months, their arrival overwhelmed Lesbos. Boats fell apart, fishermen dove to save people from drowning, and local grandmothers bottle-fed newly arrived babies.

Namjoyan spent months in an overcrowded camp. She learned Greek. She struggled with illness and depression as her marriage collapsed. She tried to make a fresh start in Germany but eventually returned to Lesbos, the island that first embraced her. Today, she works at a restaurant, preparing Iranian dishes that locals devour, even if they struggle to pronounce the names. Her second child tells her, “‘I’m Greek.’”

“Greece is close to my culture, and I feel good here,” Namjoyan said. “I am proud of myself.”

In 2015, more than 1 million migrants and refugees arrived in Europe — the majority by sea, landing in Lesbos, where the north shore is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Türkiye. The influx of men, women and children fleeing war and poverty sparked a humanitarian crisis that shook the European Union to its core. A decade later, the fallout still reverberates on the island and beyond.

For many, Greece was a place of transit. They continued on to northern and western Europe. Many who applied for asylum were granted international protection; thousands became European citizens. Countless more were rejected, languishing for years in migrant camps or living in the streets. Some returned to their home countries. Others were kicked out of the European Union.

For Namjoyan, Lesbos is a welcoming place — many islanders share a refugee ancestry, and it helps that she speaks their language. But migration policy in Greece, like much of Europe, has shifted toward deterrence in the decade since the crisis. Far fewer people are arriving illegally. Officials and politicians have maintained that strong borders are needed. Critics say enforcement has gone too far and violates fundamental EU rights and values.

“Migration is now at the top of the political agenda, which it didn’t use to be before 2015,” said Camille Le Coz Director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe, noting changing EU alliances. “We are seeing a shift toward the right of the political spectrum.”

A humanitarian crisis turned into a political one

In 2015, boat after boat crowded with refugees crashed onto the doorstep of Elpiniki Laoumi, who runs a fish tavern across from a Lesbos beach. She fed them, gave them water, made meals for aid organizations.

“You would look at them and think of them as your own children," said Laoumi, whose tavern walls today are decorated with thank-you notes.

From 2015 to 2016, the peak of the migration crisis, more than 1 million people entered Europe through Greece alone. The immediate humanitarian crisis — to feed, shelter and care for so many people at once — grew into a long-term political one.

Greece was reeling from a crippling economic crisis. The influx added to anger against established political parties, fueling the rise of once-fringe populist forces.

EU nations fought over sharing responsibility for asylum seekers. The bloc’s unity cracked as some member states flatly refused to take migrants. Anti-migration voices calling for closed borders became louder.

Today, illegal migration is down across Europe While illegal migration to Greece has fluctuated, numbers are nowhere near 2015-16 figures, according to the International Organization for Migration. Smugglers adapted to heightened surveillance, shifting to more dangerous routes.

Overall, irregular EU border crossings decreased by nearly 40% last year and continue to fall, according to EU border and coast guard agency Frontex.

That hasn’t stopped politicians from focusing on — and sometimes fearmongering over — migration. This month, the Dutch government collapsed after a populist far-right lawmaker withdrew his party’s ministers over migration policy.

In Greece, the new far-right migration minister has threatened rejected asylum seekers with jail time.

A few miles from where Namjoyan now lives, in a forest of pine and olive trees, is a new EU-funded migrant center. It's one of the largest in Greece and can house up to 5,000 people.

Greek officials denied an Associated Press request to visit. Its opening is blocked, for now, by court challenges.

Some locals say the remote location seems deliberate — to keep migrants out of sight and out of mind.

“We don’t believe such massive facilities are needed here. And the location is the worst possible – deep inside a forest,” said Panagiotis Christofas, mayor of Lesbos’ capital, Mytilene. “We’re against it, and I believe that’s the prevailing sentiment in our community.”

A focus on border security

For most of Europe, migration efforts focus on border security and surveillance.

The European Commission this year greenlighted the creation of “return” hubs — a euphemism for deportation centers — for rejected asylum seekers. Italy has sent unwanted migrants to its centers in Albania, even as that faces legal challenges.

Governments have resumed building walls and boosting surveillance in ways unseen since the Cold War.

In 2015, Frontex was a small administrative office in Warsaw. Now, it's the EU's biggest agency, with 10,000 armed border guards, helicopters, drones and an annual budget of over 1 billion euros.

On other issues of migration — reception, asylum and integration, for example — EU nations are largely divided.

The legacy of Lesbos

Last year, EU nations approved a migration and asylum pact laying out common rules for the bloc's 27 countries on screening, asylum, detention and deportation of people trying to enter without authorization, among other things.

“The Lesbos crisis of 2015 was, in a way, the birth certificate of the European migration and asylum policy,” Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president and a chief pact architect, told AP.

He said that after years of fruitless negotiations, he's proud of the landmark compromise.

“We didn’t have a system,” Schinas said. “Europe’s gates had been crashed."

The deal, endorsed by the United Nations refugee agency, takes effect next year. Critics say it made concessions to hardliners. Human rights organizations say it will increase detention and erode the right to seek asylum.

Some organizations also criticize the “externalization” of EU border management — agreements with countries across the Mediterranean to aggressively patrol their coasts and hold migrants back in exchange for financial assistance.

The deals have expanded, from Türkiye to the Middle East and across Africa. Human rights groups say autocratic governments are pocketing billions and often subject the displaced to appalling conditions.

Lesbos still sees some migrants arrive Lesbos' 80,000 residents look back at the 2015 crisis with mixed feelings.

Fisherman Stratos Valamios saved some children. Others drowned just beyond his reach, their bodies still warm as he carried them to shore.

“What’s changed from back then to now, 10 years on? Nothing,” he said. “What I feel is anger — that such things can happen, that babies can drown.”

Those who died crossing to Lesbos are buried in two cemeteries, their graves marked as “unknown.”

Tiny shoes and empty juice boxes with faded Turkish labels can still be found on the northern coast. So can black doughnut-shaped inner tubes, given by smugglers as crude life preservers for children. At Moria, a refugee camp destroyed by fire in 2020, children’s drawings remain on gutted building walls.

Migrants still arrive, and sometimes die, on these shores. Lesbos began to adapt to a quieter, more measured flow of newcomers.

Efi Latsoudi, who runs a network helping migrants learn Greek and find jobs, hopes Lesbos’ tradition of helping outsiders in need will outlast national policies.

“The way things are developing, it’s not friendly for newcomers to integrate into Greek society,” Latsoudi said. "We need to do something. ... I believe there is hope.”