The story behind the accusations against Feyli Kurds in Khanaqin

Shafaq News / Officials in Diyala refuted media accusations that the Feyli Kurds obtained civil status identities under false restrictions in khanaqin district.

"The accusations of falsifying Feyli Kurds' identities in Mandali and Khanaqin are baseless", political and activist Ali Abdul Sattar Al-Hajjiya told Shafaq News agency.

He noted, "The Ba'ath regime deported the Feyli Kurds to Iran.. Some of them returned to Iraq and settled in a camp in the outskirts of Khanaqin; official civil status identities were issued to them per the Iraqi constitution during the mandate of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki".

"The Iraqi government later set up a housing complex for them - which is the right of every Iraqi citizen – after the former regime confiscated their houses and forcibly deported them", he confirmed.

Al-Hajjiya denied any manipulation or falsification regarding the Feyli component's civil status identities, "The former regime created problems for sectarian and political reasons".

The Iraqi Integrity Commission announced on Thursday that a team from the Integrity Investigation's Office in Diyala had seized 1,360 forged transactions out of 4,333, based on which the National Card Department in Khanaqin district (located in Diyala) granted the Iraqi nationality to foreigners.

The operation resulted in the arrest of an employee accused of forgery.

In the wake of the news, the Washington-funded Al-Hurra website published statements about unnamed sources that the new naturalized Feyli Kurds came from Iran.

The Feyli Kurds were accused even though they have been struggling for many years to regain their nationality – after the former regime revoked it.

"All those returned from deportation in Khanaqin, Mandali (in Diyala), and Badra (in Wasit) were granted Iraqi citizenship because the former regime forcibly deported them", former Mandali council member, Haidar Sattar Al-Mandalawi told Shafaq News agency.

"The decision is constitutional, official, and far from any manipulation.. like all those who returned to Iraq - with different nationalities - after they were forcibly expelled from the country or displaced to escape the former regime's oppression", Al-Mandalawi added.

"All the deportees of various components have been granted Iraqi citizenship, but part of the Feyli Kurds have not received their legitimate rights.. Many of them are still displaced outside Khanaqin and Mandali or have not yet returned from deportation for various reasons", he clarified.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the former regime displaced half a million people to Iran, the majority of whom are Feyli Kurds - according to UN statistics.

The deportation was part of the regime's systematic repression policies against the Kurds that even included a large-scale genocide (Anfal genocide).

The Feyli Kurds have been subjected to systematic displacement since the founding of the modern Iraqi state.. During former President Ahmed Hassan Al-Bakr's era in 1970 and 1975, followed by Saddam Hussein in 1980 under several pretexts - including that they hail from Iran before their nationality was revoked.

Kurdish MP Azad Hameed Al-Karalucy ruled out any manipulation or fraud in the returnees from deportation's recovery to civil status identities per the Iraqi government's legal controls in all governorates, including Kurdistan region.

Al-Karalucy - a resident of Mandali and a former chairman of its council - noted that facilities might have been granted to groups following precise controls - that included everyone without exception, and that the judiciary and integrity will take their legal role in the face of any fraud.

"A foreign citizen is entitled to Iraqi citizenship if he spends five years of uninterrupted residence inside the country. So how is it with Iraqis who have been forcibly displaced and have suffered for decades in other countries?" he wondered.

Al-Karalucy continued, "the former regime subjected the Feyli Kurds and the Shiite component - particularly in the border areas with Iran - to systematic deportations in the 1970s, and many of their property and land are still confiscated".

"The Iraqi government has not resolved the issue of Article 140 on the disputed areas, and the deportees from Khanaqin and Mandali are covered by the 489 resolution to return their lands..We are working hard to return the land to its owners", he concluded.