Shafaq News/ The Faili Kurds (Feyli), an integral yethistorically marginalized community in Iraq, have endured decades of systemicoppression, forced displacement, and cultural erasure. Despite theirsignificant contributions to Iraq's social, economic, and cultural fabric, theyremain one of the most persecuted groups, grappling with unresolved grievancesand institutional neglect.
A Legacy of Displacement and Suffering
Their community is primarily located in Baghdad and centralIraq and continues to face numerous challenges, including the issues ofmartyrs, property disputes, and compensation claims. They also suffer fromongoing "unfair" treatment by certain government agencies, leading todelays in processing their cases.
They endured forced deportation, imprisonment, and evenexecution during the regime of former President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr in 1970and 1975, and later under Saddam Hussein’s rule in 1980. Historians assert thatthese actions were motivated by sectarian and ethnic factors.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Baathist regimelaunched a massive campaign to deport nearly half a million Faili Kurds, revoketheir Iraqi citizenship, and seize their properties, both movable andimmovable. Estimates indicate that at least 15,000 Faili young men wereforcibly relocated to unknown destinations, with their fate largely unknown. Itis believed many perished in detention centers or were buried alive in massgraves. Moreover, prominent Faili merchants and academics, especially in Baghdad,were specifically targeted.
Government estimates suggest that between 1980 and 1990,around 1.3 million individuals went missing—victims of executions, deaths inprisons, or enforced disappearances. The Faili Kurds, once a wealthy andeducated community, particularly in Baghdad, had many who held high-rankingpositions due to their pursuit of education.
In 2010, the Iraqi High Criminal Court issued a rulingrecognizing the deportation, disappearance, and confiscation of Faili Kurdishrights as acts of genocide. That same year, the Iraqi government vowed toreverse the harmful effects of these targeted actions against the Faili Kurds.The Iraqi Parliament, in 2011, passed a resolution declaring their forceddeportation and disappearance as genocide.
Despite the fall of the Baathist regime, the Faili Kurdshave yet to fully reclaim their rights. Many who returned to Iraq facedsignificant obstacles in reapplying for their citizenship or regaining theiroriginal Iraqi nationality, with persistent barriers preventing them fromachieving justice and recognition.
Legislative Efforts and Ongoing Struggles
In this context, the Kurdish Faili affairs advisor in theIraqi Parliament Fuad Ali Akbar explained that the former regime issueddecision No. 666 in 1980, which stripped the Faili Kurds of their Iraqinationality, labeling them as Iranians. Among the most heinous crimes committedwere forcing married men to divorce their Faili Kurdish wives in exchange formoney, or face exile with their wives or imprisonment if they refused.
While many of these crimes have been documented since thefall of the regime in 2003, efforts to fully record and address the extent ofcrimes against the Faili Kurds are still insufficient.
MP Fouad Ali Akbar, stated, "The Criminal Courtacknowledged that the crimes committed against the Faili Kurds constitutegenocide. Based on this, the Prime Minister issued the decision No. 426 in2010, which promised to rectify the harmful effects of the genocide againstthem."
He further elaborated, "A committee was formed withinthe Ministry of Culture to address these injustices, followed by another in theMinistry of Human Rights (which was later dissolved). These committees madesignificant progress in addressing the widespread issues."
"Later, the PM issued Decree No. 122, forming anothercommittee linked to the Secretariat General to address the harmful effects onthe Faili Kurds. This committee included members from various relevantministries, including those handling nationality, immigration, propertydisputes, and martyrs' affairs. This committee achieved many things related tothe Failis’ issues."
"Subsequently, Decree No. 33 was issued to establish anew committee within the Secretariat of the Cabinet. This committee continuesto follow up on Faili Kurdish issues, though some unresolved matters requirelegal amendments. As a result, there is a move towards legislating a law toorganize the rights of the Faili Kurds."
"Some of their issues are due to legal deficiencies,necessitating new legislation or amendments to address these errors. All thechallenges faced by the Failis must be regulated by law. Therefore, a draft lawwas prepared to organize their rights and submitted to relevant ministries forfeedback. The draft was later presented to various parties within the IraqiParliament, but it has been shelved for two years without progress."
Calls for Fairer Representation in Politics
Observers note that several issues concerning the FailiKurds are still marred by delays and inequity. One such issue is the allocationof a single seat for them in the Iraqi Parliament, which many believe isinsufficient given their large population. There are calls to increase theirparliamentary representation to five seats, reflecting their true demographicsize and concentration in Baghdad, Diyala, and Wasit.
Independent politician Haidar Hisham Faili argued that whilesuccessive governments since 2003 have issued several decisions regarding theFaili Kurds' rights, “the problem lies in the execution of these decisions andthe bureaucratic hurdles within some related agencies,” pointing to the delayin the Iraqi Parliament's implementation of the Federal Court’s ruling toincrease the Failis' parliamentary representation, similar to that granted tothe Christian minority.
Member of the Baghdad Provincial Council, Amer Faili, alsosupported this call, highlighting that the Faili Kurds were originally granteda parliamentary quota for Wasit province only. However, a Federal Court ruling(45/Federal) later determined that Iraq should be considered a single electoraldistrict, similar to the Christian and Sabean-Mandaean communities. Thisdecision should have been implemented in the previous election law to allow allFaili Kurds across Iraq to choose a representative, but it was not applied.
He added that another ruling (43/Federal), which took intoaccount the equality of Faili Kurds and Christians who have five seats inparliament, was also disregarded in the previous election law. The IraqiParliament is currently working on a new election law for the upcoming Novemberelections, and it is expected that this issue will be addressed in the newlegislation.
Regarding the Faili Kurdish population, he emphasized thatthe figures remain unclear. The latest census conducted by the Iraqi Ministryof Planning “ignored ethnicity and religion,” which he deems inaccurate.Properly accounting for the true numbers of Failis, along with other minoritygroups like Christians, Yazidis, and Shabaks, is crucial for the fairdistribution of political representation and resources. Since the true numbersremain undetermined, it is puzzling that other communities have been grantedmore than one seat.
Concerning their return to Iraq, Amer Faili pointed out that“a report from the UNHCR in 1997 estimated that approximately 597,000 FailiKurds had been displaced to Iran. However, there is no clear data on the numberof returnees.”
“The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displaced Personsreported in 2010 that since 2003, approximately 100,000 Faili Kurds haveregained their nationality. This number is modest compared to the number ofpeople originally displaced, especially considering the births and familyexpansions over the 43 years since the mass displacement. Granting theseindividuals and future generations their rightful nationality is an essentialand overdue step.”
Legal Action to Address Missing Faili Kurds
On January 6th, following decades of waiting, TariqAl-Mandalawi, the Director of the Legal Department and Head of the FailiKurdish Affairs Committee at the Martyrs Foundation, announced the initiationof the process to complete the legal procedures for the missing Failis, whonumber approximately 22,000 individuals.
Al-Mandalawi stated, “The Foundation communicated with theoffice of the Prime Minister regarding the issue of the missing Faili martyrs.The office, in turn, reached out to the Supreme Judicial Council, leading tothe formation of a specialized court to address their fate, especially sincemost of them are still listed as alive in civil records.”
“The Foundation has worked to expedite the processing ofcases and the issuance of death certificates through the competent court. ThePersonal Status Court has reviewed their cases, recognized them as martyrs, andincluded them under the provisions of the Martyrs Foundation Law No. 2 of2016.”
Al-Mandalawi further revealed that “A total of 70 deathcertificates have been issued for these individuals so far.”
He encouraged the families of the missing martyrs to visitthe Legal Department's Faili Kurdish Affairs Committee at the MartyrsFoundation to complete the processing of their cases.
Al-Mandalawi also highlighted that, according to statistics,there are 22,000 martyrs among the missing, most of whom were detained inprisons such as Qurnat al-Salman Prison, the Number One Prison, the FifthDivision Prison, Abu Ghraib, and other facilities. "These martyrs wereburied in mass graves, but they are still registered as alive in civilrecords," he added.
In response to this longstanding issue, the Iraqi Ministryof Interior issued a directive in April 2024 to remove the freeze and cancelthe suspension on Faili Kurds wherever they may be, following a request fromthe then-Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi. Thismeasure aims to remove the negative effects of the Baathist regime's actionsagainst this community.