KRG Interior Minister: Arab Residents of Four Sahela Villages Return Home
President Masoud Barzani has ordered the return of residents to Qahira, Mahmoudiya, Saudia, and Jadriya villages, following the earlier return of residents to Sheikh Khan and Safayya under his directive. The minister highlighted the historic ties between the Barzani family and the Shammar tribe
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Arab residents of four villages in the Sahela area, Qahira, Mahmoudiya, Saudia, and Jadriya returned to their homes and villages on Saturday in an official ceremony held by order of President Masoud Barzani, with KRG Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed attending, delivering a speech, and conveying President Barzani's personal greetings and message to the returnees and those present.
"The return of original residents to their villages is an important step toward restoring natural life, consolidating social stability, and rebuilding the ties that the peoples of this area have preserved throughout a long history," Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed said at the ceremony.
President Barzani's Message
The Interior Minister conveyed President Barzani's greetings to the returning families and highlighted what he described as the Kurdistan Region's unwavering humanitarian and patriotic stance in welcoming the displaced and those harmed by conflict, noting that the Region opened its doors to nearly one million displaced persons, the majority of whom were from Nineveh Governorate.
Historic Kurdish-Arab Bonds
Rebar Ahmed highlighted the historical ties between Kurds and Arabs, particularly the Shammar tribe. He noted that the relationship between the Barzani family and the Shammar tribe dates back to the era of Sheikh Abdul Salam Barzani and Sheikh Ajil Yawar, and that it remains a shared heritage and a collective responsibility for all. The minister's invocation of these historic bonds in the context of a village return ceremony framed the event not merely as a displacement resolution but as a restoration of a deep and longstanding relationship between Kurdish leadership and Arab tribal communities in the region.
Previously, and also by order of President Barzani, residents of Sheikh Khan and Safayya villages in the same border area had returned to their homes.
The Sahela Area And Its History
The Sahela area lies to the west of the Tigris River along the border between the Kurdistan Region and Nineveh Governorate, and has a mixed demographic of Kurds and Arabs. In the summer of 2014, when ISIS fighters attacked large parts of Nineveh Governorate and surrounding areas, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced from their communities. The Arab residents of those Sahela villages were forced to leave their homes.
Subsequently, Kurdistan Region Peshmerga forces liberated those areas from ISIS in successive operations and established themselves there to protect the security of the border areas. The return of the Arab residents of the four villages on Saturday represents the completion of the displacement resolution process for those communities, nearly 12 years after they were first forced from their homes.