Faili Kurds offer Al-Kathemi an urgent approach to end a curse on Iraq

Shafaq News / Faili Kurds called on Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kathemi not to marginalize the people of this community in his upcoming cabinet.

"Failis have suffered a lot before till today they are oppressed by the Kurdish media and Kurdish politicians on one hand, and by Baghdad on the other hand, Failis must be compensated and be partners in the government, this responsibility lies on everyone. "

"Until now, Failis did not occupy important positions in the Iraqi government after 2003, with the exception of Dr. Abdul Samad, who received the portfolio of the Ministry of Immigration and Displacement in al- Maliki’s government, and after that even the Kurds did not nominate any Faili Kurds for any position even as general manager."

"Unfortunately, Failis are divided and they cannot establish a movement for them," he said. "On the other hand, there is an undeveloped mentality that wants them to give up their sect or nationalism."

For his part, MP, Mazen Al-Faili, a Faili "quota" representative in the Iraqi parliament, told Shafaq News, "We demand fairness for Faili Kurds, because we do not want more than our right. This community suffered injustice before and they should be compensated. "

He added, "We demand that Faili Kurds would have their own employment grads as well as representation in the Iraqi state, through the participation of ministries and other positions, so they should have a fixed share in the employment file, and this should be within the budget law to guarantee rights."

He said, "These demands come to downsize Faili Kurds, so it is unfair to say that we are a minority. The people of this group are close to two and a half million to three million, and that is why all we ask for is a legitimate right for us, like all other components."

For his part, Ali Hussein al-Faili , representative of the Faili Kurds in the previous Kurdistan Parliament from Kurdistan Democratic Party’s bloc told Shafaq News that, “It is unfair that an important segment like Failis in the Iraqi government is not receiving equity, as this segment has long provided precious souls for this land.”

He added, "It seems that there is a curse on this land - Iraq - after the tragedies and disasters that afflicted the Kurds and the rest of the components, so Al-Kathemi must works to restore their rights and involve them seriously in his government, as Failis have important experiences and energies that are able to succeed the tasks entrusted to them in a prompt manner."

On that basis, Tariq Al-Mandlawi, head of the General National Congress of Faili Kurds and Sheikh Asadullah Qanbar Al-Fiali, head of the Iraqi Alliance for Faili Kurds, announced their support to the Iraqi government and to take its role in building the state and its institutions.

In a joint statement, they added, "We call on the Prime Minister-designate to expedite the public demands of Failis to represent themselves in the new cabinet, as long as our component that suffered from injustice, marginalization and exclusion in the governments that successively governed Iraq."

The authorities in Saddam Hussein's regime stripped Faili Kurds of Iraqi nationality, and worked to deport them to Iran under the pretext of subordination, before carrying out genocide against them and burying their youth in mass graves.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the former regime had expelled half a million Failis to Iran, according to statistics prepared by the United Nations, until 1991.

Faili Kurds in particular were subjected to systematic displacement since the founding of the modern Iraqi state, and then during the rule of former President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr in 1970 and 1975, then Saddam Hussein in 1980 under many pretexts, including that they were originally from Iran before their nationality was abolished.