Arabs are Not Doing Well in Iraq

By Huiyu Yin

Thousands of Arabs in “security zones” in areas of northern Iraq have been confined by Iraqi Kurdish forces since August 2014, when they were captured from ISIS. Local Kurds told Human Rights Watch that dozens of Arab homes had been destroyed in the area. Moreover, Kurdish forces for months barred these Arabs from returning to their homes in Ninewa and Erbil provinces, while permitting Kurds to return to those areas.

Human Rights Watch raises its concerns about ethnic discrimination under the guise of counter terrorism with KRG authorities in communities in Sheikhan and Tilkaif districts and Zumar subdistrict, all in Ninewa province, and Makhmur district in Erbil province.