Iraqi government to grant Yazidis ownership of their houses
The Yazidi-majority village of Duhola in Sinjar, Iraq. Photo: Wikimedia
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Thousands of Yazidi families in the Sinjar district of Nineveh governorate have been deprived of owning their residential lands since 1975, due to discriminative policies, according to a statement issued by the United Nations.
On 27 December, the Council of Ministers approved a decree that contributes to a comprehensive solution for Yazidis with regards to land ownership. The decree grants ownership of residential lands and houses to the occupants of 11 towns, the statement mentioned.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, said that the decision to grant Yazidi Iraqis ownership of their houses in Sinjar, which they have been deprived of for more than 47 years due to the unjust exclusionary policies by the former dictatorial regime, comes in the context of the Iraqi government’s clear and explicit endeavor to protect the rights of the Iraqi components, especially the beloved Yazidi community in Sinjar and Nineveh, the statement clarified.
Al-Sudani stressed that this decision was reviewed and presented in partnership with UN-Habitat, the statement explained.
Al-Sudani affirmed that this determination was clear and was demonstrated in the government program and the ministerial agenda that Iraqi parliament approved, the statement elaborated.
The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert welcomed the critical step taken by the Council of Ministers, which finally brings the security of tenure to thousands of Yazidis in relation to their housing, land, and property rights, the statement mentioned.
Plasschaert mentioned that the decree constitutes an official recognition of the ownership of lands and houses of Yazidi Iraqis, ends decades of discrimination, and will hopefully ease and encourage the return of Yazidis to Nineveh, the statement added.