ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Mirawa housing project, located in Erbil’s northeastern Shaqlawa district, was completed in 2015 to house the families of Anfal victims. However, residents say it has become unlivable, with most of them leaving due to the lack of essential infrastructure.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), during the 1988 Anfal campaign, scores of villages in Shaqlawa’s Harir subdistrict were destroyed with many families expelled from their homes.
Anfal was an eight-phase military campaign carried out by the regime of toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein between February and September 1988, to crush the Kurdish resistance.
The wide-scale operations claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 to 182,000 Kurds who were mostly killed in chemical attacks, mass executions, and ravaging of villages. By the end of the Anfal campaign, around 4,500 villages were destroyed.
“All of our family passed away and they did not even get to live happily in these houses,” Salar Mohammed, the son of an Anfal victim, told Rudaw.
Mohammed said they have appealed to all relevant authorities to extend services to the project, but their demands have fallen on deaf ears.
Each house sits on a 200-square-meter plot, but has no access to water or paved roads, prompting most residents to leave. A few remain, relying on external pipes they set up to have water delivered from hundreds of meters away.
“We urge them [authorities] to extend services, pave the roads, and provide us with water,” said Farman Said, another houseowner in the project. “We reached out to the Erbil governorate, the Shaqlawa mayor and the Harir subdistrict administration. They keep saying they will address our demands, but nothing has come to fruition yet.”
The houses are in shambles, with residents saying fixtures are being stolen.
“There’s no plaster left, no doors, windows, fans, or water heaters. There’s nothing left besides the walls,” said Mahir Ali, another kin to Anfal victims.
Mohammed Sulaiman, another family member of Anfal victims, echoed Ali’s claims, urging authorities to ensure the residents of the Mirawa housing project are “looked after for the sake of our martyrs and the Anfal victims.”
According to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, their role was limited to constructing the houses, adding that providing services such as water and roads is the responsibility of the Erbil governorate and Shaqlawa’s local administration.
Head of the ministry’s martyrs’ services directorate, Ahmad Mam Rasul, told Rudaw that necessary procedures have been completed and requests for services have been sent to the KRG.
According to the Shaqlawa's district administration, around 803 million Iraqi dinars (about $550,000) are needed to provide the necessary services to the project. However, no funds have been allocated or spent so far.
Anfal remains a painful moment and turning point in Kurdish history, symbolizing the brutal repression endured under Saddam Hussein’s regime, but also their continued struggle for justice.
The memories of men and boys rounded up, tied together, shot, and buried in mass graves, as well as the horrific conditions faced by women and children in camps, continue to haunt the collective memory of the Kurdish people.
In 2008, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court recognized Anfal as a crime against humanity. However, years later, little has been done to assist the survivors or families of the victims.
It is important to note that Anfal was just one part of a broader campaign of genocide against the Kurds that spanned several decades. This includes the forced demographic changes in Kirkuk in the 1960s, the disappearance of Faili Kurds in the 1970s, and the infamous chemical attack on Halabja in 1988.
Payam Sarbast contributed to this report.
