Migration ministry post no longer important for Kurds: Former minister
Former Iraqi Minister of Displacement and Migration Darbaz Mohammed in an interview with Rudaw on May 5 says that post is no longer of "great importance" for Kurds, because a large number of the IDPs have now returned. Additionally, many of IDPs who took shelter in Kirkuk during the ISIS conflict also have returned and conditions in Shingal are not suitable for IDPs to return because of the presence of several armed militias.
He also sheds light on internal issues gripping the Change Movement (Gorran) and dismissed claims made by Abdulrazaq Sharif, a former Gorran official, who last week accused him of corruption during his tenure as minister. Sharif was dismissed from Gorran on grounds that he had violated the party's regulations and by-laws, the party’s National Assembly said in an announcement on April 28.
After the dismissal of Mohammed, Sharif in a statement accused leader Omar Saed Ali of backing Mohammed in the mismanagement of his previous ministry: "It is strange. They all complain about the lack of money within the party. And when someone is making money for us, everyone makes a fuss," Sharif said quoting Omar Saed Ali as referring to Darbaz Mohammed in the April 28 meeting which he also attended.
Rudaw, Nawzad Mahmoud: Kurds did not retain the post of the minister of displacement and migration in the new Iraqi cabinet, yet there are a large number of IDPs sheltered in the Kurdistan Region. Do you think it was important for Kurds to keep the post?
Darbaz Mohammed: All the ministries the Kurds received are more important than the migration ministry. This is particularly now so that
half of the IDPs have returned home. The Ministry of Displacement and Migration is no longer of great importance for Kurds. Besides, the good relations we forged with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are maintained by the current team [in Baghdad].
During the ISIS conflict, you were criticized for the lack of help in assisting Iraqi IDPs sheltering in the Kurdistan Region.
The complaints had two sides. Sometimes it was political, in the sense that we had only relied on ourselves to take care of the IDPs and Baghdad had not assisted us. The other point of view was that there was not much understanding about our limited resources. For example, if you have 200,000 IDPs, you cannot build 200,000 residence units. Having one million displaced persons in Kurdistan was a heavy burden. What we offered was the best we managed to do.
What did you do?
In the beginning when we assumed the post, we started to build camps. Within the first two months of our work, we built 20 residential
units in Duhok. We later handled Mosul affairs too, in coordination with the Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi government. We were working hard and I remember, even [US President Barack] Obama at the time, was asking what had been done for Mosul as everyone had been talking about the process of the liberation of Mosul from ISIS. Even the United Nations informed us that if we had managed to shelter half a million IDPs from Mosul, then we would score a huge success. Yet, they were adamant we would not be able to do it. But we proved that we sheltered even more than that number.
Did they talk about the financial burdens of the IDPs?
No. The funding responsibilities were not on the KRG's shoulders. The pressure [on the KRG] was only on health and electricity. The Iraqi government and organizations were funding and paying cash.
Is it an easy task to help the people of Shingal return home?
With the current situation on the ground, no. The matter is not just vested in the KRG. The PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and their affiliate
groups are another problem.
You once said that more than 500,000 Arab IDPs had fled to Kirkuk. Do you know whether or not they have returned to their areas?
Correct. A large number of IDPs had fled to Kirkuk from Anbar, Mosul, and Hawija. A large number of them have already returned. Maybe some of them have opted to stay. On the issue of demography, they will not become a threat as their food ration cards are not from Kirkuk.
Some of the ISIS families displaced to Syria were from Iraq.
We returned around 30,000 Iraqis from Syria. There is an abundant number still lingering there. They are the children and families of ISIS.
The repatriation of them is problematic because how can you protect them? You cannot put a child behind bars just because his father was an ISIS member. What is his crime because his father was Daesh?
Recently, Abdulrazaq Sharif, a former member of the Gorran’s National Assembly published a letter saying that Gorran turned a blind eye when in the beginning when you were accused of mismanagement in your post.
This is a political and personal subject and has nothing to do with correctness, incorrectness or justice. If anyone, in and outside the National Assembly, has any evidence, we have a legal office and they could file complaints. Why did they not file a complaint against me, if they claim that? Why did they choose silence over the past two years? Why do they speak up now? Where is their evidence?
But back then, even the Migration Committee in the Iraqi parliament summoned you on similar charges.
I was going there every day. There are three monitoring agencies in Iraq and the three of them are not [close associates] of mine. Why did
the three sides say nothing against me? Go and find a single line about my poor performance. Nobody said anything about my involvement in mismanagement until I was chosen as a member of Gorran's committee to elect the party's candidates for the [KRG] posts. I was a minister and I know who suits what post and who has the potential to run a certain post or become a minister. I am doing all this to serve Gorran.
Alia Nusaif, a Shiite MP, once called on the parliament to summon you when you were the migration minister, accusing you of corruption.
I did not back then nor do I now call on Gorran, as a party, to take a stance on what is done to me. On February 16, 2016, when this subject was raised, I copied the file and handed it to the government and parliament offices of Gorran. I submitted to them asking them to launch their own investigations into the accusation made against me in it, too.
Abdulrazaq Sharif says that Aram Mohammed, the former deputy speaker of the parliament, informed the leader of Gorran about Alia's accusations against you.
Mr. Aram had his own views on the accusations made against me. I have not resorted to Gorran to resolve these problems with me. Gorran later responded saying these accusations were no longer worth wasting time.
He also sheds light on internal issues gripping the Change Movement (Gorran) and dismissed claims made by Abdulrazaq Sharif, a former Gorran official, who last week accused him of corruption during his tenure as minister. Sharif was dismissed from Gorran on grounds that he had violated the party's regulations and by-laws, the party’s National Assembly said in an announcement on April 28.
After the dismissal of Mohammed, Sharif in a statement accused leader Omar Saed Ali of backing Mohammed in the mismanagement of his previous ministry: "It is strange. They all complain about the lack of money within the party. And when someone is making money for us, everyone makes a fuss," Sharif said quoting Omar Saed Ali as referring to Darbaz Mohammed in the April 28 meeting which he also attended.
Rudaw, Nawzad Mahmoud: Kurds did not retain the post of the minister of displacement and migration in the new Iraqi cabinet, yet there are a large number of IDPs sheltered in the Kurdistan Region. Do you think it was important for Kurds to keep the post?
Darbaz Mohammed: All the ministries the Kurds received are more important than the migration ministry. This is particularly now so that
During the ISIS conflict, you were criticized for the lack of help in assisting Iraqi IDPs sheltering in the Kurdistan Region.
The complaints had two sides. Sometimes it was political, in the sense that we had only relied on ourselves to take care of the IDPs and Baghdad had not assisted us. The other point of view was that there was not much understanding about our limited resources. For example, if you have 200,000 IDPs, you cannot build 200,000 residence units. Having one million displaced persons in Kurdistan was a heavy burden. What we offered was the best we managed to do.
What did you do?
In the beginning when we assumed the post, we started to build camps. Within the first two months of our work, we built 20 residential
Did they talk about the financial burdens of the IDPs?
No. The funding responsibilities were not on the KRG's shoulders. The pressure [on the KRG] was only on health and electricity. The Iraqi government and organizations were funding and paying cash.
Is it an easy task to help the people of Shingal return home?
With the current situation on the ground, no. The matter is not just vested in the KRG. The PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and their affiliate
You once said that more than 500,000 Arab IDPs had fled to Kirkuk. Do you know whether or not they have returned to their areas?
Correct. A large number of IDPs had fled to Kirkuk from Anbar, Mosul, and Hawija. A large number of them have already returned. Maybe some of them have opted to stay. On the issue of demography, they will not become a threat as their food ration cards are not from Kirkuk.
Some of the ISIS families displaced to Syria were from Iraq.
We returned around 30,000 Iraqis from Syria. There is an abundant number still lingering there. They are the children and families of ISIS.
Recently, Abdulrazaq Sharif, a former member of the Gorran’s National Assembly published a letter saying that Gorran turned a blind eye when in the beginning when you were accused of mismanagement in your post.
This is a political and personal subject and has nothing to do with correctness, incorrectness or justice. If anyone, in and outside the National Assembly, has any evidence, we have a legal office and they could file complaints. Why did they not file a complaint against me, if they claim that? Why did they choose silence over the past two years? Why do they speak up now? Where is their evidence?
But back then, even the Migration Committee in the Iraqi parliament summoned you on similar charges.
I was going there every day. There are three monitoring agencies in Iraq and the three of them are not [close associates] of mine. Why did
Alia Nusaif, a Shiite MP, once called on the parliament to summon you when you were the migration minister, accusing you of corruption.
I did not back then nor do I now call on Gorran, as a party, to take a stance on what is done to me. On February 16, 2016, when this subject was raised, I copied the file and handed it to the government and parliament offices of Gorran. I submitted to them asking them to launch their own investigations into the accusation made against me in it, too.
Abdulrazaq Sharif says that Aram Mohammed, the former deputy speaker of the parliament, informed the leader of Gorran about Alia's accusations against you.
Mr. Aram had his own views on the accusations made against me. I have not resorted to Gorran to resolve these problems with me. Gorran later responded saying these accusations were no longer worth wasting time.