Community Engagement to Reduce Irregular Migration CERIM
Helping Kurdish youth to explore safer pathways to irregular migration through community engagement with religious leaders and educators, and a dedicated WhatsApp chatbot.
The first phase of this project has been completed. Results are final.
"When we hear real stories and see what actually happens on these journeys, it changes how we think. Lived experiences are much stronger than just information."
Student participant, Duhok University, CERIM project
Challenge & Approach
Every year, tens of thousands of young people in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq face a difficult choice: risk everything on an irregular journey to Europe, or remain in a region that too often feels like it has no future to offer. The Community Engagement to Reduce Irregular Migration (CERIM) programme, funded by the UK Government and implemented by Seefar in partnership with the Women Empowerment Organization (WEO), set out to close the information gap between what smugglers promise and what migrants actually experience — not just by warning of the risks, but by offering concrete, realistic alternatives to pursue at home.
The Challenge
Young people in KRI are widely aware that irregular migration is risky, yet smugglers and social media continuously reinforce the promise of employment and stability in Europe. Knowledge of safe, local alternatives remains limited, and many potential migrants have not pursued them.
Our Approach
CERIM deployed three complementary strategies across four KRI governorates: direct community awareness activities delivered by WEO teams; a Training of Trainers (ToT) model equipping educators and religious leaders; and a purpose-built WhatsApp chatbot offering private, on-demand information in Kurdish dialects.
How the Project Worked
Direct Community Awareness
Interactive workshops in schools and universities, storytelling and debate sessions in community centres, and in-person awareness campaigns in markets, mosques and public spaces.
Training of Trainers
A model equipping 111 educators and religious leaders to lead their own awareness sessions, generating an 81-session community-led cascade reaching 8,100 students.
WhatsApp Chatbot
A bespoke two-way chatbot in English and both major Kurdish dialects, with automatic dialect detection, delivering private, on-demand migration information.
The Challenge: Knowledge Without Alternatives
Baseline research conducted at the start of the programme confirmed what Seefar's contextual analysis had indicated: awareness of the risks of irregular migration was widespread among young people in KRI. Economic hardship, political instability, and a pervasive sense that the future lay elsewhere drove migration aspirations even among those who understood the dangers. Smugglers and social media continuously reinforced the narrative that reaching Europe, however the journey unfolded, would lead to employment, stability, and a better life.
Community leaders largely opposed irregular migration, and smugglers were widely perceived as harmful. Yet knowledge of safe, local alternatives remained limited, and a significant proportion of potential migrants had not pursued them. The project's task was to shift that dynamic through credible information, trusted voices, and the power of authentic returnees' stories.
Those alternatives, including vocational training and employment schemes within KRI, legal study abroad pathways, and family reunification routes, existed but were poorly understood and rarely seen as realistic by young people who had been told, by smugglers and social media alike, that Europe was the only path to a better life
The Multiplier Effect: Training of Trainers in Action
The Training of Trainers model, in which project staff train community leaders who then deliver their own sessions, is a well-established approach in behaviour change programming. CERIM's results demonstrate just how powerful it can be when implemented well.
Working in partnership with the Ministries of Education and Religious Affairs, WEO secured formal commitments from both institutions to nominate participants for ToT sessions. This was a significant achievement that gave the programme institutional legitimacy and ensured that trained educators had the mandate and space to lead conversations in their own schools and communities.
Six ToT sessions trained 111 educators and religious leaders across KRI. The results exceeded all targets. Of trained community actors, 88% demonstrated measurable knowledge gains following their training, well above the 65% target, and went on to deliver their own awareness sessions. In practice, this meant that 81 community-led sessions reached approximately 8,100 students in schools across the region, delivered not by Seefar or WEO staff, but by the educators themselves.
"The Training of Trainers provided us with effective resources to tackle irregular migration in educational and community environments.”
Educator, ToT Training, Erbil
The cascade effect is clear: six project-led training events generated 81 community-led sessions. That multiplier dynamic is at the heart of what makes CERIM's model both cost-effective and durable.
"When we hear real stories and see what actually happens on these journeys, it changes how we think. Lived experiences are much stronger than just information."
Student participant, Duhok University
Innovation Spotlight: The WhatsApp Chatbot
One of CERIM's most significant innovations was a bespoke two-way WhatsApp chatbot, a first-of-its-kind tool for migration awareness work in KRI. Built by Seefar, it operates in English and both major Kurdish dialects, Badini and Sorani, with automatic dialect detection, and integrates video, real-life returnee stories, factual information on asylum processes, and guidance on legal alternatives including study abroad, family reunification, and remote work.
"The chatbot allows them to access information privately without feeling embarrassed."
Focus group participant, KRI
Focus group research found that many potential migrants feel too ashamed to ask questions about irregular migration openly — the chatbot let them do so privately. Participants described a clear shift: before using it, many believed reaching Europe without documents would still lead to work and stability; afterwards, they understood how limited job opportunities are without legal status, how many migrants spend years undocumented or in camps, and that arrival in Europe guarantees neither safety nor dignity. Returnee stories proved more powerful than statistics alone, making the risks tangible in a way abstract warnings could not.
The chatbot reached over 50 users, generating more than 4,000 interactions - an average of 80+ per user, reflecting sustained, repeat engagement rather than one-off use.
"One story mentioned someone who reached Europe but ended up in a worse situation than in his hometown. This is very different from what we usually hear on the streets."
Chatbot user, Duhok
Stories from the Field
Siam's Story: Soran, Erbil
Siam, 18, had been planning to follow his uncle to the UK for months. Hearing other participants share real accounts of dangerous crossings and exploitation at a storytelling session changed his thinking. He decided to stay, continue his education, and explore legal options - and has since started volunteering locally to raise awareness among his peers.
Aland's Story: Chamchamal, Sulaymaniyah
Aland had already begun selling his belongings to pay a smuggler when he attended an awareness session almost by chance. First-hand accounts from people who had attempted the crossing shifted his thinking. He used his savings instead to set up a small business with a friend in Chamchamal's market.
Key Achievements
23,250
total participants reached across all CERIM activities in KRI
88%
trained educators and religious leaders demonstrated measurable knowledge gains - exceeding the 65% target
8,100
students reached through 81 community-led sessions delivered by trained educators
88%
trained community actors delivered their own awareness sessions post-training - exceeding the 60% target
4,000+
chatbot interactions from 49 users, averaging 80+ interactions per user
111
educators and religious leaders trained across six Training of Trainers sessions