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No welcome signs for Iraqi Arabs in
Kurdistan 29.3.2007 |
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March 29,
2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region (Iraq), --
Muhanad Ayub faced a perplexing choice four months
ago: head west to Jordan or Syria like floods of
other refugees to escape the violence that paralyzed
his Baghdad suburb, or travel to a region described
as the "other Iraq" for a safe haven within national
borders.
Ayub, 32, gave up a part-time job translating for an
international rights organization, which he says
earned him numerous death threats, and emigrated
north to Kurdish-controlled Iraq to start anew.
Today he is unemployed and fears being expelled from
a
region where he says Arab Iraqi migrants are
relegated to the margins, without work and due
sympathy.
"There is no life for us here, no work, no support,
nothing," he said. In his estimation, at least 50%
of the residents in the bleak apartment complex he
now calls home are Arab Iraqis in similar straits.
There are about 1.9 million internally displaced
Iraqis, according to the latest United Nations
figures, with upward of 2.7 million expected by the
end of this year. The Irbil-based Kurdish Regional
Government (KRG) says it has both the capacity and
the will to absorb those who come knocking, so long
as they meet strict criteria.
Emigres seeking to live in the region must have a
local resident who acts as a guarantor, on arrival
they are required to go to the KRG residency officer
to register with the government, and all are
obligated to return either every month or quarterly
to report their living status.
KRG officials insist such measures are both fair and
essential to preserve the peace that holds in the
north, noting that no coalition troops have been
killed or civilians kidnapped in the region since
the 2003 US-led invasion. However, they concede that
no amount of security checkpoints and patrols could
achieve this record without vigilant cooperation
from residents who see stability and economic growth
as a precursor to an independent Kurdish state.
Lieutenant Rebwar Mohammad, an officer in the
regional police force, pointed out that entry
regulations have not stopped many Arab Iraqis from
moving to the region permanently. In addition to a
better quality of life, he said, the government
provides some with help in finding work and housing.
"We have our doors open to all Iraqis who desire
peace, regardless of their background. They are
protected here."
One Arab refugee from Baghdad, Abbas Khafaji, whose
uncle was killed by Sunni gunmen, agrees. A Kurdish
contact gave him a job at a downtown Irbil hotel on
arrival three months ago that pays enough for him
and his family to live in safety. He calls himself
"lucky" to have found work in the growing service
sector, with no plans of leaving any time soon.
Since gaining autonomous status under the Iraqi
constitution, the KRG has tried to reach out beyond
national borders to attract foreign investment to
build infrastructure in sectors ranging from to
tourism. A promotional hook on the official website
reads: "Welcome to Iraqi Kurdistan, where democracy
has been practiced for more than a decade. It's not
a dream. It's the other Iraq."
No precise figures exist as to how many Arab Iraqis
- Muslims and Christians alike - have fled to the
Kurdish region, but they number in the thousands.
Sulaimaniyah has long been a center of Kurdish
nationalism, and some Kurds are troubled by the
steady influx of immigrants, fearing that a surge in
crime may follow.
"When things were miserable here under Saddam
[Hussein], we didn't all run to Baghdad and beg for
help. We took care of ourselves," said Amed Shkak, a
taxi driver. "Why should we give up jobs for Arabs
when we've worked so hard to create a future for the
Kurdish people? Our suffering was as bad."
Ali, a former officer in the peshmerga forces who
spent six years hiding in Iran at the height of the
Hussein regime's crackdown on ethnic Kurds, is
convinced hostilities may one day break out in the
north between Kurds and Arabs if coalition forces
withdraw and the country descends into anarchy. Two
potential flashpoints are already showing signs of
worse to come.
The northern city of Mosul, outside Kurdistan region
border, about 50 kilometers west of Erbil city, is a
combustible mix of 70% Arabs and 30% Kurds. It
remains an outpost of Sunni insurgent activity
uncomfortably close to the edge of the Kurdish
region. Still more troubling is oil-rich Kirkuk,
which the KRG would like to annex into its territory
amid mounting sectarian violence. Analysts say such
an economic windfall would give the Kurds greater
confidence to move toward independence, a fate
neither Turkey nor Arab Iraqis would idly accept.
Saddam forcibly removed 250,000 Kurds from Kirkuk
during the 1970s to Arabize the city. The Iraqi
constitution mandates that a referendum on control
of Kirkuk must be held by the end of this year, with
Kurds expected to win. A recent report from the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy asserted
that "Kirkuk is as likely as Baghdad to produce a
calamity that can fracture Iraq", recommending a
delay of the referendum.
In the Kurdish region, oil revenues from Baghdad
remain Iraqi Kurdistan's main source of income and
fuel a construction boom that is attracting more and
more workers from abroad. This adds to the
frustration of some emigres looking for a better
lot.
Ayub insists that Arab Iraqi refugees such as
himself are first entitled to benefit from the
relative prosperity, rather than be made to feel
like outsiders in their own country.
"It's like the mafia here - the government takes
without giving back," he said. "This is still Iraq,
and we deserve to live here like everybody else."
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