The Future of Minorities in Post-ISIL Iraq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26750/Vol(8).No(1).Paper12Keywords:
Minority, ISIL, Humanitarian Crisis, Armed Conflict, International Law, KRI, The Federal Government of Iraq.Abstract
The period after June 2014 has seen forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an armed group, spread quickly across Iraq. This process has led to massive displacements in which affected over two million people. Indeed, the primary targets of ISIL have been religious and ethnic minorities. Some of these groups include Yazidis, Shabak, Kaka’i, and Christians. Also, ISIL has abducted or injured many people, with thousands also killed. Examples of adverse actions that the armed group has committed include severe human rights abuses such as the looting of property, the abduction of children, the destruction of places of worship, sexual enslavement, rape, forced conversion, and summary executions. Whereas the period before the insurgency group’s entry still witnessed minorities exist as a vulnerable group, the violence led by ISIL has threatened to eliminate them permanently from regions such as the Nineveh Plains, have lived in these areas for several centuries. The main question purpose of this paper is to examine the future status of minorities in post-ISIL Iraq? ISIL. I will argue that although ISIL had been defeated in Iraq, their impact will be critical on Iraqi Minorities Even after the demise of ISIL. Currently, informal settlements, abandoned buildings, and camps in which the displaced persons live reflect deteriorating humanitarian conditions. With international agencies experiencing limited resources and also the government failing to offer an effective response, most of the international displaced people (IDPs)[1] do not have enough shelter, health care, water, food, and other essential items. Indeed, most vulnerable groups include children and women. At a time when the majority are contemplating emigration out of Iraq, their survival in the immediate and far future rests upon collaboration among four groups that include the international community, the Iraqi government, Kurdish authorities, and minorities themselves. Some of the specific areas that need to be addressed include the asylum dilemma, reconciliation and restoration, preventing future abuses, legislation, and humanitarian issues.
References
Ali, M. H. (2019). Aspirations for Ethnonationalist Identities among Religious Minorities in Iraq: The Case of Yazidi Identity in the Period of Kurdish and Arab Nationalism, 1963–2003. Nationalities Papers, 47(6), 953-967.
Ali, M. H. (2019). The Controversy of the Religious Minorities Identities in Iraq: The Crystallization of the Yazidi Identity after 2003. British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 1 .
Cetorelli, V. and Ashraph, S. (2019). A demographic documentation of ISIS’s attack on the Yazidi village of Kocho – LSE Middle East Centre reports. LSE Middle East Centre, London, UK.
Crone, J. (June 5, 2015). “Christian family in ancient Iraqi city of Nineveh prepare to defend 2,700 year-old tomb of Jewish prophet, as ISIS armies advance to just 10 miles away.” mailOnline. Retrieved on January 14, 2019, from <<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3112585/Christian-family-ancient-Iraqi-city-Nineveh-prepare-defend-2-700-year-old-tomb-Jewish-prophet-ISIS-armies-advance-just-10-miles-away.html>> [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].
Dewachi, O. (2017). Ungovernable Life: Mandatory Medicine and Statecraft in Iraq. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Dietrich, L. and Carter, S. E. (2017). Gender and Conflict Analysis in ISIS Affected Communities in Iraq. UN Women.
Donabed, S. G. (2015). Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University.
Gardner, J. (2016). No Way Home: Iraq’s minorities on the verge of disappearance. IILHR, MRG, NPWJ, UNPO.
Joint CrISIL Coordination Centre KRG (2020) Over 1.5 million IDP and refugee individuals are registered in KRI. Available online <http://jcc.gov.krd/en/article/read/91>. [Accessed 20/11/2020].
Hanish, S. (2015). The Islamic State Effect on Minorities in Iraq. Review of Arts and Humanities, 4(1), 7-11.
Helfont, S. (2018). Compulsion in Religion: Saddam Hussein, Islam, and the Roots of Insurgencies in Iraq. Oxford University Press.
Ibrahim, R. (October 28, 2018).” The Annihilation of Iraq’s Christian Minority.” Gatestone Institute International Policy Council. Retrieved on January 14, 2019. Online https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13193/iraq-christians-annihilation. >. [Accessed 20/11/2020].
Iraq's Constitution of 2005. Available online << https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Iraq_2005.pdf?lang=en>>. >. [Accessed 20/11/2020].
Johnston, P. B., Alami, M. and Clarke, C. P. et al. (2019). Return and Expand? The Finances and Prospects of the Islamic State after the Caliphate. RAND Corporation.
Joint CrISIL Coordination Centre (2020). Over 1.5 million IDP and refugee individuals are registered in KRI. Online << http://jcc.gov.krd/en/article/read/235>>. [Accessed 20/11/2020].
Kaya, Z. (2019). Iraq's Yazidis and ISIL: the causes and consequences of sexual violence in conflict. LSE Middle East Centre, London, UK.
Millare, M. A. (2019). Defeating ISIL IN Iraq: A Race against Time. NCO Journal, 1-6 .
Mosul Study Group (2017). Mosul study group: What the Battle for Mosul teaches the force. Department of the Army.
O’Driscoll, D. (2017). Autonomy Impaired: Centralisation, Authoritarianism and the Failing Iraqi State. Ethnopolitics 17(4), 315-322.
Oehring, O. (2017). Christians and Yazidis in Iraq: Current Situation and Prospects. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
OCHA, (2020). Iraq: Humanitarian Dashboard for KRI (January to December 2019). Availabe online <https://reliefweb.int/report/iraq/iraq-humanitarian-dashboard-kri-january-december-2019>. [Accessed 15/11/2020].
Redvers, L. (2015). The crISIL in Iraq: an overview. Available online <https://odihpn.org/magazine/the-crISIL-in-iraq-an-overview/>. [Accessed 15/11/2020].
Robinson, E., Egel, D. and Johnston, P. B. et al. (2017). Islamic State comes to town: The econom¬ic impact of Islamic State governance in Iraq and Syria. Rand
Rubaii, K. J. (2019). Tripartheid: How Sectarianism Became Internal to Being in Anbar, Iraq. American Anthropological Association, 42(1), 125-141.
Salloum, S. (2017). At Crossroads: Iraqi Minorities after ISIS. Baghdad: Heartland Alliance International.
Shea, N. (2016). The ISIL Genocide of Middle Eastern Christian Minorities and Its Jizya Propaganda Ploy. Center for Religious Freedom, Hudson Institute.
UNHCR (2019). International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Republic of Iraq.
United Nations (UN) (August 2007). Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers. [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].
United Nations (UN) (20 JANUARY 2017) Security Council Press Statement on Destruction of Cultural Heritage, Executions in Palmyra. Online <https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sc12690.doc.htm>. [Accessed 12 Jan. 2020].
Wainscot, A. (2019). Engaging the Post-ISIS Iraqi Religious Landscape for Peace and Reconciliation. United States Institute of Peace.
Zaman, A. (2016). From Tribe to Nation Final: Iraqi Kurdistan on the Cusp of Statehood. Wilson Center Middle East Program Occasional Paper Series.
