Arabization of Yazidis in Ba'athist Iraq

Arabization of Yazidis in Ba'athist Iraq
Location	Sinjar, Sheikhan, Nineveh Governorate, Iraq
Date	1975–1989
Attack type	ethnic cleansing, Arabization, Demographic engineering
Victims	7,000 Yazidis forcefully removed from homes in 1973.[1] 137 villages depopulated and destroyed in 1974[2] 147 villages depopulated in 1975.[3][4]
Perpetrators	Ba'athist Iraq
Motive	Arab nationalism and Pan Arabism

The Arabization of Yazidis in Ba'athist Iraq refers to a set of policies carried out by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party from the mid-1970s through the 1980s aimed at altering the demographic composition of Yazidi-populated areas in northern Iraq, particularly in the Sinjar and Sheikhan districts. These policies included forced displacement, destruction of Yazidi villages, the creation of Arab settlements, cultural assimilation, and restrictions on property ownership.

Background

The Ba'athist regime, under Saddam Hussein, pursued an Arab nationalist ideology that sought to assimilate or displace non-Arab minorities in strategic regions, particularly near oil fields and borders. The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking religious minority native to northern Iraq, were one of the affected groups.^{[citation needed]}

Policies and implementation

In 1975, the Ba'athist government launched a major Arabization campaign in Sinjar, a historic Yazidi heartland. Sinjar was depopulated in four waves (in 1965, between 1973-1975 and 1986-1987), during which the residents of some 400 Yazidi villages^[5] were forced to live into newly built collective towns, known as mujammas, located on the plains of Nineveh Governorate.^[6] These relocations were part of a larger modernization and control effort, but often lacked basic infrastructure; water failed to reach many of these settlements, leaving Yazidis dependent on neighboring Arab landlords for survival.^[7]

In 1973 several thousand yazidis were forcefully removed from there homes^[1]

During this time, at least 46 originally Kurdish and Yazidi villages were Arabized by the Iraqi government.^[8] Bulldozing of villages was followed by the construction of Arab-only settlements nearby. These actions extended across areas from Khanaqin to the Turkish and Syrian borders, including Sinjar.^[9]

In Sheikhan, a heavily Yazidi-populated district, 147 out of 182 villages were subjected to forced displacement in 1975. Many were handed over to Arab settlers in the following years, and at least seven new towns were built to house the displaced Yazidis and Kurds.^[3][4]

A 1987 national census further reinforced assimilation by requiring individuals to identify as either "Arab" or "Kurd." Yazidis, like Assyrians and Turkmens, who refused to identify as Arab were automatically recorded as Kurdish, making them subject to anti-Kurdish campaigns.^[10]

Consequences

Many Yazidis lost legal ownership of their homes and agricultural land. A 2020 report noted that thousands of Yazidis in Sinjar remain without legal title to their property due to discriminatory policies rooted in Ba'athist-era legislation.^[11]

Though Yazidis were sometimes perceived by the Ba'ath regime as Arabs and thereby spared the full scale of genocidal violence inflicted on Kurds during campaigns like Anfal campaign, they remained subject to forced relocation, marginalization, and cultural erasure.^[12]

Legacy

The legacy of these policies continues to impact the Yazidi community today, particularly through unresolved land claims, disputed governance between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the continued socioeconomic marginalization of Yazidis in formerly Arabized areas.^[13]

See also

• Yazidis in Iraq
• Anfal campaign
• Arabization of Kirkuk
• Human rights in Ba'athist Iraq

References

1. Pavković, Aleksandar; Radan, Peter, eds. (2010). Secession as an International Phenomenon: From America's Civil War to Contemporary Separatist Movements. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77661-9. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)
2. Lechowick, R. Latham (2024). I Won't Let Them Be Like Me: Ezidi Women's Agency and Identity After the Sinjar Genocide.
3. Eva Savelsberg, Siamend Hajo, Irene Dulz. "Effectively Urbanized - Yezidis in the Collective Towns of Sheikhan and Sinjar". Etudes rurales 2010/2 (n°186).
4. UNAMI, "Disputed Internal Boundaries: Sheikhan district", Volume 1, 2009, pp. 2–3.
5. "Special Issue: Yezidism and Yezidi Studies in the Early 21st Century". Kurdish Studies. 4 (2). Transnational Press London. 2016. ISSN 2051-4883.
6. Maisel, Sebastian. Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building Among a Double Minority. Lexington Books. p. 95.
7. Le Monde Diplomatique, "The Yezidis: Persecuted then and now", 2017. https://mondediplo.com/2017/01/08yezidis
8. Human Rights Watch, "Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq", 2004. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/iraq0804/4.htm
9. HRW, ibid.
10. Romano, David; Gurses, Mehmet (2014). Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 51. ISBN 9781137409997.
11. UN-Habitat and Arab Land Initiative. "Iraq Recognizes Yazidis’ Housing, Land, and Property Rights". https://arablandinitiative.gltn.net/media/news/iraq-recognizes-yazidis-housing-land-and-property-rights
12. Al Jazeera, "Iraq’s Yazidis caught in the crossfire", 2014. https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2014/7/2/iraqs-yazidis-caught-in-the-crossfire
13. Al Jazeera, ibid.