KARBALA (AFP) — Rami, a Syrian worker in Iraq, spends his 16-hour shifts at a restaurant fearing arrest as authorities crack down on undocumented migrants in the country better known for its own exodus.

He is one of hundreds of thousands of foreigners working without permits in Iraq, which after emerging from decades of conflict has become an unexpected destination for many seeking opportunities.

“I’ve been able to avoid the security forces and checkpoints,” said the 27-year-old, who has lived in Iraq for seven years and asked that Agence France-Presse (AFP) use a pseudonym to protect his identity.

Between 10 in the morning and 2:00 a.m. the next day, he toils at a shawarma shop in the holy city of Karbala, where millions of Shiite pilgrims congregate every year.

“My greatest fear is to be expelled back to Syria where I’d have to do military service,” he said.

The labor ministry says the influx is mainly from Syria, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also citing 40,000 registered immigrant workers.

Now the authorities are trying to regulate the number of foreign workers, as the country seeks to diversify from the currently dominant hydrocarbons sector.

Many like Rami work in the service industry in Iraq.

One Baghdad restaurant owner admitted to AFP that he has to play cat and mouse with the authorities during inspections, asking some employees to make themselves scarce.

Not all those who work for him are registered, he said, because of the costly fees involved.

Some of the undocumented workers in Iraq first came as pilgrims. In July, Labor Minister Ahmed al-Assadi said his services were investigating information that “50,000 Pakistani visitors” stayed on “to work illegally.”