KRG, Iraqi government to conduct census next year
Several workshops are being planned by both sides in the near future “to explain the objectives of the general population census to both sides.”
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region and Iraq will conduct a census in 2024 through mutual cooperation, according to Serwan Mohammed, the President of the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office.
Several workshops are being planned by both sides in the near future “to explain the objectives of the general population census to both sides.”
The statistics official insisted on conducting the general population census on schedule while adding that the Ministry of Planning of the Kurdistan Regional Government is a key partner with its Baghdad counterpart in preparing the necessary affairs of the census to be successfully conducted on time.
Earlier, he told Kurdistan 24 that the last attempt to conduct a population census in Iraq was in 2009, but it was prevented from being implemented due to anti-Kurdish sentiment in Baghdad.
“If the number of Kurds in the Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces is revealed, it will have a political impact on the claims of Arab officials that we are the majority in these provinces,” Mr. Mohammed noted.
Moreover, he added that the last census in Iraq was in 1997, and the census is to count the entire population of the country, including refugees and foreigners living in the country, while the census will provide details on the population and economic situation.
The Kurdistan Region Statistics Office on July 11 announced in a statement that the population of the Kurdistan Region, excluding refugees, will reach 6.6 million people by the end of 2023.
Read More: Kurdistan Region population to exceed 6.5 million by end of 2023: Kurdistan Region Statistics Office
According to Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, the status of the province is to be decided by its residents by conducting a census, followed by a referendum, and de-Arabization of the area. Under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, thousands of Arabs from other parts of Iraq were relocated to Kirkuk to change the Kurdish demography in the city.
Kurds have repeatedly pleaded with Baghdad to resort to Ottoman-era titles and deeds to uncover the rightful owners of property in Kirkuk.
Iraq’s last full census was conducted in 1987. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the country’s planned census in 2020.
Kurdish parties have voiced concerns over the “demographic changes” that had taken place in the province following the events of Oct. 16, 2017, in which Kurdish forces were ousted by Iranian-backed Shiite militias and the Iraqi army.
Since then, a significant number of Arab families have moved into the province, threatening the Kurdish-majority demography of the area.
