Latest news with #Feylis
Shafaq News
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraqi Parliament's Quota move silences Feyli Kurdish aspirations
Shafaq News The decision to reclassify the Kurdish Feyli quota seat in Iraq's parliament as a nationwide allocation—rather than limiting it to Wasit province—has ignited political and community backlash. What was once a symbolic recognition of the Feyli Kurds' historic presence in Wasit is now seen by many as a vulnerable tool of political bargaining, prompting renewed calls to restore the seat's provincial scope and expand representation for a community long subjected to marginalization and forced displacement. Enduring Legacy of Displacement and Exclusion The Kurdish Feylis suffered systematic persecution under the Ba'athist regime, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. They were targeted for their ethno-sectarian identity—being both Kurdish and Shiite—and labeled as 'foreigners' despite generations of residence in Iraq. Between 1970 and 1980, up to half a million Feylis were expelled to Iran. Many lost their citizenship, property, and civil rights. Over 15,000 young Feyli men disappeared during the purges, with their remains never recovered. Baghdad's elite Feyli business and academic circles were especially targeted. Despite the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, many returnees still face bureaucratic barriers in reclaiming their original citizenship or accessing legal rights. Historical and Political Context The Kurdish Feyli quota seat was originally established as a recognition of the community's longstanding presence in Wasit, particularly in cities like Kut, Al-Aziziyah, Al-Hai, Badrah, Zurbatiyah, and Jassan. Political activist Haidar Hisham al-Feyli explained that the seat was secured after a sustained campaign by Feyli activists and was initially meant to include three seats before being reduced to one for political reasons. 'This seat was meant to reflect the aspirations of the Feyli Kurds,' Hisham told Shafaq News. 'But now, instead of protecting their representation, it is being contested by figures outside the community due to weak safeguards and ineffective electoral oversight.' He stressed that the seat lacks clear legal protections and has been subjected to external interference, allowing candidates who are not Feyli Kurds to contest under the quota. This, he said, has diluted the seat's original purpose and fragmented the community's electoral voice. Kurdish Feyli MP Hussein Mardan stated that the Federal Court ruled that the Kurdish Feyli quota seat in the Iraqi parliament—out of a total of 329 seats—will be a national seat for all of Iraq does not benefit the Feyli component. 'If we assume that it must be a national seat, then at the very least the Feylis should be granted five seats, similar to the Christian component. A single national seat does not serve the Kurdish Feylis, especially considering that Feyli Kurdish candidates are not present across all Iraqi provinces,' He told Shafaq News. Legal and Institutional Gaps Critics highlight the failure of Iraq's electoral commission to enforce identity-specific quotas, allowing political maneuvering that jeopardizes minority rights. Rashid al-Budairi, a senior member of the 'Services (Khadamat)' political alliance, argued that this shift contradicts the historical justice intended for the Kurdish Feylis. 'They faced genocide, forced displacement, and systemic exclusion under the former regime.' 'Wasit should retain the seat as a matter of acquired and constitutional right. The recent move turns the quota into a bargaining chip, risking its appropriation by a single political faction.' Beyond the Quota While defending the quota's existence, some lawmakers also highlight the growing political engagement of Feyli Kurds outside the quota system. MP Bassem Nughaymish of Wasit noted that the community is not solely reliant on the reserved seat to enter the political arena. 'Feyli Kurds are full citizens of Wasit, not a minority in the traditional sense,' Nughaymish said. 'They have successfully contested general parliamentary elections and hold key posts in the provincial government.' According to Nughaymish, several key administrative roles in the province—such as municipal leadership in Kut and other directorates—are held by Feyli Kurds, reflecting their active participation in public life. He specifically mentioned Deputy Governor Nabil Shamma, the brother of renowned musician Naseer Shamma, as an example of the community's strong local presence. What's Next? With national elections on the horizon, the controversy over the Kurdish Feyli seat is likely to intensify. Calls for restoring the seat to Wasit and expanding the community's representation are gaining momentum among activists and political allies. However, unless electoral regulations are tightened and community-led representation is prioritized, the quota may become symbolic rather than substantive. 'Without legal safeguards and genuine political will,' Hisham warned, 'the quota will only serve as a façade, not a channel for real empowerment.' Written and edited by Shafaq News staff.
Shafaq News
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Feyli community calls on Iraq to act on genocide recognition
Shafaq News – Baghdad Iraqi lawmakers, activists, and Feyli Kurdish representatives convened in Baghdad on Saturday to demand urgent action to restore the long-denied rights of the Feyli community, citing decades of forced displacement, property confiscation, and continued marginalization. The Member of the Feyli Front Sara Hussein underscored the community's historical suffering under previous regimes, including mass displacement and executions. Despite political change in Iraq, most Feylis have yet to regain their seized assets or receive compensation, she told Shafaq News. 'Today, we are still marginalized. Parliamentarians and officials have made efforts to implement laws protecting our rights, but bureaucratic hurdles and overlapping jurisdictions continue to block Property Restitution Law,' she stated, urging parliament to prioritize Article 140 in the next legislative session. Hussein also highlighted the neglect facing the Feyli language, warning that it risks extinction without serious cultural revival efforts. 'The Feyli language is distinct from Kurdish and holds unique cultural and social value.' Generational trauma and official recognition According to community data, more than 22,000 young Feylis went missing in the 1980s, and some 5,000 merchants were reportedly buried alive. Nearly 600,000 were deported from Iraq, with only about 10% managing to recover their properties or secure compensation. In 2010, Iraq's Supreme Criminal Court recognized the persecution of Feyli Kurds—including forced disappearances and property confiscations—as acts of genocide. Additionally, the Head of the Feyli Women's League Sabah Nur al-Din stressed the importance of raising awareness through such symposiums, emphasizing the need for young MPs to champion the community's rights.
Shafaq News
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Stateless in their homeland: The unending exile of Iraq's Feyli Kurds
Shafaq News/ In the quiet alleys of eastern Baghdad, Amira Abdul-Amir Ali moves through her days under the weight of silence. Her footsteps echo with decades of exclusion—an exile not from geography, but from legal existence. Born in 1960 and raised in Iraq, she remains, at 64, a citizen of nowhere. No official record affirms her Iraqi identity. Her life is suspended in a bureaucratic void—without recognition, rights, or recourse. Amira's story mirrors that of tens of thousands of Feyli Kurds, a Shiite Kurdish minority deeply woven into Iraq's social and economic fabric. For generations, they ran businesses, held public posts, and called Iraq home. But shifting political tides erased that belonging. Displacement by Decree The persecution of the Feyli Kurds was deliberate and protracted. In the early 1970s, the Baath regime under President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr initiated mass deportations, accusing Feylis of 'Iranian allegiance.' Under Saddam Hussein, the campaign intensified, peaking in 1980 with one of Iraq's most egregious state-led displacements. Citizenship papers vanished overnight. Families were rounded up and forced into Iran. Homes, shops, and savings were confiscated. Over 500,000 Feyli Kurds were expelled, according to estimates. Thousands of young men disappeared, likely executed or buried in unmarked graves. Baghdad's Feyli professionals and merchants were among the hardest hit. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights reports that more than 1.3 million people went missing nationwide between 1980 and 1990. Feyli Kurds bore a disproportionate share of that toll. Recognition Without Relief In 2010, Iraq's High Criminal Court classified the deportations and disappearances as genocide. A year later, Parliament echoed that recognition. Yet these acknowledgments, while historic, brought little in practice. Pledges to restore citizenship, return property, and compensate victims remain largely unfulfilled. Many survivors returned to Iraq after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein—hopeful, but soon entangled in a labyrinth of paperwork. Reinstating citizenship required documents lost during exile or raids, and the state offered scant support in recovering them. A Name Without a Nation Amira's life exemplifies this bureaucratic limbo. Deported with her family in 1980, she spent decades in Iran. There, she married an Iraqi prisoner of war in a religious ceremony—valid by custom, but unregistered by Iraqi authorities. After returning to Iraq post-2003, her husband failed to submit her nationality paperwork. When he died, Amira was left alone, legally invisible. She holds no national ID, cannot access public healthcare or education, and is excluded from Iraq's food ration system. 'All I ask is to be treated like everyone else,' she told Shafaq News. 'To restore just a piece of my lost dignity.' Her entire legal identity today fits in a worn file folder—an unregistered marriage contract, a few aging residency papers—none sufficient to restore her rights. Bureaucracy and Gender Iraqi law allows reinstatement of Feyli citizenship in principle, but implementation is sluggish and inconsistent. For women, the hurdles are even greater. Iraq's civil registry system still leans heavily on male guardianship. Without a husband or male relative to file her case, Amira has effectively vanished from official records. Her experience reveals how gender compounds legal exclusion. Years in exile, outdated rules, and systemic corruption create a maze most cannot navigate. Her case is just one of hundreds stuck in this legal paralysis. Human Rights Watch has noted that Iraq's transitional justice efforts are undermined by fragmented politics and selective enforcement. Legal structures exist, but urgency and willpower are lacking. Genocide as Daily Reality The 2010 genocide ruling was a milestone—but more than a decade later, material justice remains absent. Property has not been restored. Compensation has not reached most victims. And citizenship remains elusive for many. Some Feyli Kurds have reintegrated. But others—like Amira—live in legal shadows. For them, 'genocide' is not merely a past crime—it is a daily condition. 'I live as though I have no right to anything… no home, no document, no voice,' Amira said. 'Orphaned by both parents—I just want to be treated as an Iraqi. That's all.' A Humanitarian Path Forward Amira continues to appeal to Iraqi leaders—especially Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari—seeking a humanitarian solution. Iraqi law does include provisions for exceptional cases, particularly involving mixed marriages and displaced persons, but they are rarely and inconsistently applied. Human rights advocates stress the need for urgent administrative reform: simplify application procedures, recognize informal marriages in exile, and allow women to reclaim citizenship without male intermediaries. The United Nations defines legal identity as a foundational right—one that enables access to education, healthcare, political participation, and economic life. Without it, individuals are effectively erased from public existence.
Shafaq News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
PHD against genocide and war: A Feyli woman's fight
Shafaq News/ Before she ever stepped into a lecture hall or drafted a thesis on water resources, Leqaa Jabar Kaki al-Diwali learned the cost of identity. She was only nine when Iraqi security forces raided her family's home in Baghdad. Her grandparents and three uncles were taken without warning. That morning marked the beginning of a life shaped by disappearance, displacement, and exile. As Feyli Kurds—a Shiite minority long targeted under Baathist rule—her family was swept up in a campaign that cast them as traitors. Branded with accusations of 'foreign loyalty,' tens of thousands were stripped of citizenship and deported to Iran in the early 1980s. Leqaa would never see her grandparents again. They died far from the only home they had ever known. Systemic Erasure The persecution of Feyli Kurds spans decades. Under former Presidents Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein, state violence escalated from harassment to full-scale deportation. By the early 1980s, nearly half a million Feylis had been forced across the border. Their homes, businesses, and documents were seized. An estimated 15,000 young men vanished into prisons or mass graves. Despite this, the community had long contributed to Iraq's cultural and economic fabric. In Baghdad, Feylis worked in civil service, academia, and commerce—visibility that made them even more vulnerable. In 2010, Iraq's High Criminal Court recognized the deportations as genocide. Parliament echoed that judgment a year later. Yet acknowledgment has yielded little in practice. Most survivors still await compensation, restitution, or meaningful engagement from state institutions. From Exile to Academic Triumph Leqaa's story mirrors that of her people—but she refused to let it end in loss. In May 2025, she earned a PhD in hydrology from the University of Damascus, defending a dissertation on water management in Erbil's Dashti Hawler Basin. The degree represented far more than academic achievement—it was a personal reclamation. Her academic journey began in Baghdad, where she completed her undergraduate degree but was blocked from public-sector employment due to her background. She later worked within Iraq's Parliament and resumed her studies in 2012. A master's degree followed in 2019. In 2022, she applied to Damascus for doctoral research—and was accepted. Then the war returned. A Doctorate Amid Ruins Syrian policy required her to live in-country during her program. Leqaa left her husband and children behind in Baghdad and moved to Damascus. Months later, a major offensive collapsed the regime, turning the capital into a battlefield. With flights canceled and roads perilous, she traveled back and forth overland—through al-Bukamal and Deir ez-Zor—crossing combat zones by bus and sometimes on foot. 'There were times I came under bombardment,' she told Shafaq News. 'But I had no choice. I kept going.' When Damascus fell in December 2024, she fled west with other civilians. Bombs rained down as they pushed toward the Lebanese border. 'We dropped to the ground, ran, then dropped again,' Leqaa recalled. 'We did whatever it took to survive.' After 36 hours at the border, she reached Lebanon and eventually returned to Iraq. But her dissertation remained behind. The university refused to transfer her file, and Iraqi institutions were powerless to help. If she wanted her PhD, she had to go back—alone. The Last Ascent In early 2025, she reentered Syria and rented a modest apartment near the university. For three months, she lived in near-complete isolation. She stepped out only when absolutely necessary, avoiding checkpoints and combat. 'It was dangerous, but I didn't want to endanger anyone else,' Leqaa affirmed. In May, she defended her thesis. Despite the chaos, despite the violence, despite the years lost to war and statelessness, Leqaa passed with distinction.
Shafaq News
12-04-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraqi President: Time to abolish unfair laws against Feyli Kurds
Shafaq News/ On Saturday, Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid called for the repeal of Baath-era laws that continue to discriminate against Feyli Kurds. During a memorial marking Feyli Martyrs Day, Rashid emphasized the need for broader justice measures. 'The presidency continues to stand with the Feyli Kurdish community in defending their rights,' he said. The statement follows Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani's decision to designate April 2 as the official date to commemorate Feyli Martyrs Day and allocate land for a cemetery honoring victims. However, some members of the Feyli community objected to the date, arguing that April 4 is more historically significant, marking the beginning of their forced displacement and persecution under Saddam Hussein's regime. Feyli Kurds suffered mass displacement, executions, and citizenship revocations during the Baathist era. According to Tareq Al-Mandalawi, the prime minister's advisor on Feyli affairs, 16,350 victims are documented in the Martyrs Foundation's records—part of an estimated 60,000 Feylis executed during Saddam's rule. Feyli Kurds are an ethnic minority with historical roots on both sides of the Zagros Mountains along the Iraq-Iran border. Today, Iraq's estimated 1.5 million Feylis reside mainly in Baghdad, the eastern provinces of Diyala, Wasit, Maysan, and Basra, as well as in the Kurdistan Region, according to the Minority Rights Group.
