“Arabization is ongoing. I believe that what is happening now is more concerning than what happened in the past as this Arabization is more damaging and dangerous on our identity than the previous government’s efforts,” Fahmi Burhan, the head of the Kurdistan Region’s board for disputed territories, told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman.
According to the official, a rapid increase of non-local Arabs from Iraq’s central and southern provinces moving into disputed territories like Kirkuk and Khanaqin is being reported, with tens to hundreds of families transferring their identity papers and moving daily, gradually shifting the demographics of the areas away from a Kurdish majority.
The Arabization movement was part of former Iraqi president and dictator Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime campaign against the Kurds, in which Arab families would be resettled in disputed areas in hopes of establishing an Arab majority, pushing Kurdish families out in the process.
The present-day Kurdish withdrawal from the disputed territories is attributed to the Iraqi forces retaking control of the areas in 2017 as well as the existing threat of the Islamic State (ISIS), which continues to pose security risks around areas in Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Diyala.
Burhan added that another ongoing tactic of Arabization is the removal of the Kurdish language from government offices in the disputed territories, being replaced with Arabic, as well as a greater allocation of budget to areas with an Arab majority compared to lesser importance given to Kurdish-majority areas.
The once Kurdish-majority towns of Saadiya and Gulala – known as Jalawla in Arabic – in Diyala province have lost all and 90% of their Kurdish population respectively, according to Burhan.
Elsewhere in Khanaqin, officials express concern over the rapid influx of families from outside the area.
“From the beginning of this year, nearly 500 families from villages and areas outside Khanaqin have transferred their documents to Khanaqin,” Rawa Samir, head of Khanaqin’s office for the Region’s general board of disputed territories told Rudaw’s Ranj Sangawi on Saturday.
There are “24 villages” around Khanaqin that “nearly 4,280 Kurdish families” have left due to ISIS activities and lack of security, he added.
Burhan moreover called on Kurdish politicians to not engage in any dialogue with the Iraqi government to form the country’s next government unless the implementation of Article 140 is specifically discussed.
Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution has been one of the most controversial topics relating to the disputed areas in the war-torn country since the drafting of the constitution in 2005, as the failure to fully implement it has been cited as one of the main reasons for the continued attempts at demographic change.
The article calls for the dispute over areas in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, Nineveh, and Salahaddin to be resolved, and includes measures aimed at rectifying Arabization policies implemented under the rule of Hussein. The article specifies that this process needs to be implemented by no later than the end of 2007, yet it remains to be fully applied around 15 years after.
