The Kurds refer us to the central government and the central government refers us to the Kurdistan Region, the Fayli Kurds say. The Fayli Kurds returned to their homes after 35 years of displacement only to find their houses occupied by strangers who refuse to leave.

January 28, 2012

BAGHDAD, — The Faylis of Iraq consider themselves Kurds. Their distinct Kurdish dialect differs from Sorani and Kirmanji the same way Iraqi colloquial Arabic changes from one province to another.

The Faylis suffered enormously at the hands of Iraq's former Baath regime. They were branded as Iranians by Baghdad and expelled en masse from the country in the 1970s; they weren't even allowed to sell their properties or take any belongings with them.

Now, many Faylis feel they are manipulated by Iraqi politicians trying to win over their vote. They don't have a political party to represent them and thus have a sense of injustice in the new Iraq.

Muhammad Ali, deputy director of the Fayli Cultural Organization, told Rudaw, "I attended a conferences for Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in which he spoke about the oppression of the Fayli Kurds. He talked about launching a satellite or a local TV channel to air our voices, but we haven't seen any of those pledges fulfilled because they were simply election promises and nothing more."

Ali added, "He only wanted to win our votes in the elections. He didn't care about us."

According to some estimates by local NGOs, around one million Fayli Kurds live in Baghdad today, mainly in the neighborhoods of Jamila, Sadr City, Al-Jumhuriye, Kifah Street and other areas.

After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, many Fayli families returned to Iraq. In their absence, their homes and properties were occupied by other Iraqis who had government permission to live in their homes. Ever since,www.ekurd.net these families have been fighting through Iraq's intricate bureaucracy to reclaim their properties, but it has proven a real challenge.

Ali believes it's the government's fault that their properties have not been returned to them yet.

"The biggest problem is the current government which isn't solving the property disputes of the Fayli Kurds," he said. "The Fayli Kurds returned to their homes after 35 years of displacement only to find their houses occupied by strangers who refuse to leave."

In 2003, under the Coalition Provision Authority (CPA), Iraq founded a committee to settle property disputes. However, Ali said that neither that committee nor private lawyers have been able to settle the issue for the Faylis.

"We ask the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to pressure the Iraqi government to solve our property disputes," he said.

Majeed Abbas, 60, returned to Iraq after the US invasion of Iraq and founded his home occupied by someone else. Now, Abbas said, this other family is demanding he buy the property back from them.

"When I came back to my old house, the person who was living there asked me to pay him 50 million Iraqi Dinars (approximately US$40,000) simply because he had built a second bathroom in it. As if it wasn't enough that he had been living in my house for more than 30 years for free," Abbas said.

Ahmed Najdat, 36, a Fayli grocer on Baghdad's old Kifah Street, believes that despite the distance that separates them from the Kurdistan Region, the Faylis of Iraq feel they are part of Kurdistan.

"The Kurds are our representatives because we do not have anybody who to represent us in the Iraqi Parliament or the government," Najdat said. "We consider the Kurdistani bloc to be representative of all Kurds."

After several years of failed attempts to reclaim their homes and a sense of disappointment in Iraq's political parties, some Faylis have started to reconsider their situation.

Majid Abdulqadir, 44, a butcher, blamed the Faylis themselves for their current situation, saying that they haven't tried to get their own representation in the Parliament or the government.

"Our votes are divided over different political parties and sects," Abdulqadir said. "We cannot get social services in Kifah Street if wanted to because we do not have representatives. The Kurds who are in the Parliament represent the Kurdish region. We have nobody to represent us in Baghdad."

Abdulqadir believes lack of political experience among Faylis is another reason for their plight.

"The Fayli Kurds do not have the political awareness to see their own interests and they lack the political experience to be able to vote for the right person," he said. "We had many Fayli candidates but they did not get enough votes due to division among us and the lack of awareness."

Fayli neighborhoods are considered among the poorest in all of Iraq and lack basic services such as sanitation, roads and health care.

Selma Ashur Saqir, director of the Fayli Women's Cultural Organization in the Jamil quarter, believes the Fayli Kurds -- especially women -- have the fewest opportunities to find employment.

"We believe as Fayli Kurds that we have fewer chances than others in getting jobs or employment due to marginalization by both Kurds and Arabs," she said. "The Kurds refer us to the central government and the central government refers us to the Kurdistan Region. So we suffer and don't have the same rights as others."

By Jasim Al Sabawi

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, rudaw.net  

Top