Kurdish official confirms continuation of Arabization campaign in Kirkuk

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The process of Arabization and demographic change against the Kurds in the Kirkuk Province is continuing, an official from the region said on Saturday.

According to recent reports, Kurds have been forcibly displaced from their homes and villages in the Sargaran area of Kirkuk’s Dibis district and replaced with Arabs who have been brought from other areas of Iraq with the support of the country’s federal police.

“We have informed all officials in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region, but the problem has not been resolved,” Director of Sargaran Luqman Ahmed told Kurdistan 24.

Ahmed pointed out that a delegation from the United Nations was expected to visit the town and villages in Kirkuk “to see the problem of continued expulsion of Kurds from their homes.”

A Kurdish bloc in Iraq’s Parliament on Friday called on the UN to form a fact-finding committee after the newly-implemented process of Arabization in Kirkuk, warning of “untold consequences.”

Sources in the area confirmed that Arabs who are brought to the region to take over the homes of Kurdish citizens are mainly residents of Al-Baaj, Al-Hadar, and areas on the Syrian border.

Kirkuk has witnessed widespread violations against its Kurdish population since Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias took over the province on Oct. 16 in response to the Kurdistan Region’s Sep. 25 independence referendum.

Since the takeover, thousands of civilians, mostly Kurds, have been forced to flee to Kurdistan as their homes were looted and burned, and their property destroyed.

The oil-rich province of Kirkuk, home to a mix of Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs, and Christians, is one of the most disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil.