Iraq News Now

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A cabinet member of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Thursday that it is essential for Iraq's upcoming national census, planned for 2020, to be held in a "suitable environment" that is "without politicization." 

The statement was made by KRG Planning Minister Dara Rashid, along with KRG Minister of State Khalid Shwani, during a press conference following their meeting with a high delegation from Iraq's federal government headed by Mahdi al-Alaq, National Advisor for the Population Census. 

Following the meeting, Rashid said, "We discussed the census project in detail," and stressed that technical teams in Erbil and Baghdad are working on "establishing a suitable environment for the census."

Rashid added that "for a successful census, we need normalization in the disputed territories," and stressed the KRG's demand for "a national census without politicization."

Iraq’s last census was held in 1997 and did not include the Kurdistan Region. More recent counts generally estimate population based on statistics provided by the national food ration program and have often been incomplete in disputed territories.  

A full accounting of regional populations is crucial for planning and budgeting in any nation. In Iraq, where mass displacement and campaigns of ethnic cleansing have been endemic to conflict for decades, such a survey takes on political significance. Lack of reliable statistics has fueled discord between rival populations claiming majorities in various regions of Iraq, most notably in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, adding to the difficulty of addressing fundamental disagreements.

Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution provides a legal mechanism for resolving the outcome of the disputed territories, partially based on updated census results. The provision was introduced to allow the 2005 ratification of the constitution by kicking controversial decisions on the disputed territories down the road, but has still never been implemented.