Uproar after orphans barred from entering shopping center in Baghdad during Eid

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The al-Mansour Mall staff and administration in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad has come under fire after allegedly preventing entry to a group of orphans on an Eid trip sponsored and supervised by a local charity this weekend.

A wave of resentment and anger accompanied a campaign to boycott one of Baghdad’s most prominent shopping centers as activists, and concerned Iraqis shared a now-viral video of the kids and their chaperones in front of the mall, posted by the charity team.

The hashtag #Boycott_MansourMall has been shared more than 15,000 times on twitter, and the al-Mansour Mall’s five-star rating on its official Facebook page has dropped to less than two stars after receiving some 20,000 one-star reviews within 24 hours of the news breaking on Iraqi social media.

Volunteers from the Ruhmaa Benahm orphan association in the video posted to the al-Mansour page asked the administration why they had been denied entry.

The group’s spokesman, Ibrahim Taha, noted that the majority of orphans they were accompanying to the mall, aged between 7 and 15 years of age, had lost their families to violence in recent years.

In the video, he asked what differentiates an orphan from any other children, claiming the group would look for “another mall which would not prevent them from enjoying themselves.”

Outside of the mall’s fence, the video showed 15 children standing in the scorching sun, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius. The orphans were meant to enjoy a meal and some playtime at a restaurant which had been “reserved and paid for.”

Instead, according to Taha, the restaurant’s manager allegedly refused the children entry, saying they would “disturb the playground and the restaurant.”

“We asked him if we had come with 25 of our children and relatives, would you refuse to receive us?” Taha said.

The al-Mansour Mall’s management team responded to the incident on Sunday, stating security guards had “simply asked the team to wait outside until there was enough room for the group to sit in the restaurant.” It also claimed to have tried to facilitate their entry and provide toys for the orphans to be “comfortable while they waited.”

“It is a totally normal procedure, and we are astonished by this video,” the statement said. “We encourage all humanitarian organizations to inform the mall’s management ahead of time to ensure enough space and activities are provided to the dear orphans to avoid any issues during the busy month of Ramadan and holidays.”

Attempts by al-Mansour Mall to control the situation and maintain its image does not seem to have soothed public outrage, as more and more Iraqis take to social media to join the campaign calling for a boycott.

“If it were not for the sacrifices of the parents of these orphans, this mall would be run by IS [the Islamic State],” Yasser al-Saffar told AFP. “The management’s greed was stronger than their humanity.”

“All the world's countries respect martyrs and their families - this mall deserves nothing better than a boycott,” Ismail al-Khazali wrote on the orphan association's page.

“Shame on anyone who enters this mall before the management apologizes for insulting the orphans,” posted another user, Hakib al-Shebli.

The al-Mansour Mall is the first such shopping center, Baghdad’s largest, and was built in 2013 at the cost of US$35 million.