The Iraqi regime's deportation of Kurdish and Turkoman families from the city and
governorate of Kirkuk has escalated in the last year. Concerned organizations have
published information regarding the ethnic cleansing practiced by the Iraqi regime, and Iraq
Foundation has received copies of Iraqi documents containing deportation orders and giving
the names of deported families.

Typically, Kurdish and Turkoman families are singled out in official records, ordered
deported, and stripped of their property, possessions, ID cards and ration cards. Some are
deported  to areas in Kurdistan under Kurdish control; others are deported to areas in Iraq
under  government control, to face a dangerous future. Their confiscated properties are
usually sold to Arab  families loyal to the regime, who live in government controlled areas.

In a report of January 20th, Al-Zamman newspaper reported that the Iraqi authorities are
registering the names of new families that live in Kirkuk and Debiss, in preparation to
move them out of the area, and have prohibited 55 families from selling or buying property.
Azzaman also reports that the Iraqi regime is giving three million dinars to each Arab family
that moves  into a house belonging to a deported Kurdish or Turkoman family. Additionally,
residential and  agricultural land belonging to non-Arab citizens in Kirkuk, Erbil and Mosul
governorates, has been  confiscated and distributed to officers of the military and security
forces.

A further tactic adopted by the Iraqi regime in trying to obliterate ethnic identity in the
Kirkuk region is the forced ethnic "conversion" of Iraqi Kurds and Turkamons. Individuals
and families are intimidated into signing documents renouncing their ethnic identity, and
declaring themselves to be Arabs, and threatened with deportation and confiscation of all
assets if they fail to do so.

As part of its Iraqi Research and Documentation Project, the Iraq Foundation has gathered
sensitive official Iraqi documents that give chilling details of the ethnic cleansing operations
underway. The documents refer to activities in the year 2000. For security reasons, the
Foundation cannot publish these documents, but can describe some of their content:

- a document that is clearly titled "Deportation of Non-Arab Citizens", containing
implementation procedures

- documents listing the names of Kurdish and Tukoman families that were deported during
the period. Some were deported to Kurdish-controlled areas, while others were deported to
the western desert of the Anbar governorate.

- documents that contain statistics of the number of Kurdish and Turkoman families that
have been forced to change their ethnicities-what the document calls "correcting" ethnicity

- documents with orders to confiscate properties belonging to named individuals who had
been deported, or who were imprisoned "for political reasons"

 - documents on the award of property in a destroyed Turkoman village to an Arab clan
leader "loyal  to the leadership of the party and the revolution"

- documents showing the "correction" of ethnicity of Kurds and Turkoman individuals to
Arab ethnicity.

The Foundation also has official Iraqi documents citing names of individuals who are barred
from employment in the public sector because they are Kurds or Turkoman.

The deportation of Kurds and Turkoman from areas under government control, and
particularly from the Kirkuk governorate, has left over 100,000 people from northern areas
homeless and destitute. The deportees have been stripped of their possessions and papers,
and have no access to shelter, food or work. The Kurdish regional administrations in Erbil
and Suleimaniya are having difficulty sheltering and feeding such large numbers of people.
The situation of those  deported to areas under government control, such as Al-Anbar, are in
even worse shape, as they are still under government surveillance and victims of both
deprivation and persecution.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com