The scientific workshop was held at ten o'clock in the morning on Monday, 11/11/2024, at the Karbala Center for Studies and Research, in the Great Meeting Hall, headed by the Director of the Center, Mr. Abdul Amir Al-Quraishi. Where the great challenges faced by the security services and the concerned authorities during the million visits, especially during the Arbain pilgrimage, including security and logistical challenges related to the management of huge crowds, focus on the need for coordination between the various government agencies and the use of modern technology to meet these challenges and achieve security and comfort for visitors.
The Director of the Center, Mr. Abdul Amir Al-Quraishi, highlighted some of the challenges faced by the city during the Arbaeen pilgrimage for the year 1446 AH-2024 AD, especially with regard to the coordination of security sectors. As you know, there is no city in the world that receives more than 20 million visitors in a short period of time, and with such a huge volume of crowds, many challenges arise that relate to organization and security. Despite these challenges, some corrective actions were taken that helped reduce potential risks, some joint forces were deployed in sensitive areas such as "Freiha" and "AL-Dareeba Bridge", which contributed to strengthening security and controlling the situation, and despite the occurrence of some incidents, whether small or large, things were largely under control, thanks to increased cooperation between security sectors and gradually improved coordination.
The message that was delivered to the world at those moments was clear: "Iraq is a safe and stable country." However, this stability would not have been possible without the continuous efforts of coordination between the security sectors. Through continuous follow-up of the situation, I noticed that the security forces in Karbala possess high efficiency and flexibility in dealing with crises and have the ability to accurately identify strengths and weaknesses, which helped maintain the stability of the city. However, there remain ongoing challenges related to strengthening coordination between security sectors in various Iraqi cities, and working to raise the level of security expertise and joint cooperation between these sectors. Iraq today needs a sophisticated and highly efficient security apparatus, capable of coordinating all sectors to ensure continued stability in the country. Iraq has made great strides towards restoring stability and safety, but we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that these efforts continue to achieve the desired success.
Major General Abdul Amir Finjan said that it is important to focus on the importance of maintaining the security of visitors, explaining that this topic is one of the large and complex issues that include several security and military sectors that must be integrated together to ensure success in security management. At first, in 2004, the situation was more complicated due to the absence of a clear military or security institution at the time, the military sectors were distributed at the governorate level, which contributed to the lack of effective coordination and the situation included precautionary military movements such as simple military units or arrangements for visiting or covering some areas In that period, there were no effective mechanisms to systematically address security challenges, especially in the face of terrorists and extremists and with the escalation of the phenomenon of terrorism , large gatherings of visitors have become a major target for extremist elements. These challenges necessitated the need to reconsider and develop security plans in line with the new situation. Security plans have been centralized since 2003.
Dr. Mohammed Abbas Al-Lami, Director of the Directorate of Combating Extremism - National Security, said that the Arbain is considered one of the largest human gatherings in the world, as millions of visitors flock to the holy city of Karbala. In 2024, the number of visitors reached 21,480,525, which is a huge number that requires integrated planning and implementation from several institutions to meet the needs of visitors, such as health care, transportation, food, and other services, in addition to taking into account the spiritual and religious dimension of this occasion He also stressed the importance of coordination between the various concerned authorities to achieve success in implementing plans related to the visit, it requires monitoring matters, and organizing security and intelligence aspects. In this context, he pointed to the importance of attracting diplomats, researchers, and businessmen, who participate in various events, as an example of effective coordination, he mentioned the experience of the "International Hussein's Love Parade" which aimed to attract European cultural figures from different religions and fields, such as Hinduism and Christianity, as well as film directors. He also pointed to the need to use modern technology in crowd monitoring, stressing the importance of conducting .
Decisions and recommendations
· Work to raise the level of joint coordination between all security agencies concerned with the management and security of the million crowds and through increasing the effectiveness of the unified central security administration.
· Promote the use of technology to develop the network of surveillance cameras and drones in vital places, and expand the scope of remote sensing to ensure comprehensive and effective surveillance.
· The need to reconsider the logistical plans related to transport and ambulance during the Zyarah, while improving traffic organization to reduce congestion and congestion, and emphasizes here the identification of an emergency path known to all and work to perpetuate its openness.
· Strengthening the role of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities in organizing and coordinating the pilgrimage, and securing tourist areas.
· Subjecting the cadres of the security services at different levels and tasks assigned to them to training and qualification to deal with the management and security of the million crowds, especially what falls under the name of crisis or emergency events, and work to assign these services to volunteer work after subjecting it to an intensive study that takes all the challenges that surround it.
· Encourage the local community to participate in organizing the Zyarah by training them on how to assist the security services and coordinate their work.