Provincial Council, minority representatives call Baghdad to stop demographic change in Nineveh Plains

"The decision will have a negative impact on stability and security in the Nineveh Plains."

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Nineveh Provincial Council (NPC) and representatives of minorities in the province have called on the Federal Government of Iraq to end the demographic change in the Nineveh Plains.

In an official letter directed to the federal Ministry of Interior, NPC Head Bashar Kiki says the decision to move the residency of 450 Arab families to areas in the Nineveh Plains should be reconsidered.

Kiki’s call comes after a letter by the representatives of the Ezidis, Shabaks, and Christians at the NPC who demand a halt to the registration of Arab families at the Civil Status departments in Hamdaniya, Bartella, Bashiqa, and Tel Kayf.

Once their names are registered at these Civil Status departments in each district, the families will then be able to move to the areas.

The NPC representatives requested an end to the transfers to halt any “procedure that would lead to the demographic change in the areas where the minorities are residing.”

The letter calls on authorities to transfer the registration of the 450 Arab families to Mosul or other areas outside of the ones populated by the minorities.

In a statement on July 31, three NPC members representing Shabak, Ezidi, and Christian components warned that the administrative procedure would negatively affect the stability in the Nineveh Plains and would lead to a demographic change. They concluded that the process was a violation of the Iraqi Constitution.

The Council members called for immediate termination of the decision and prior consultation with the federal authorities.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany