Families in Anbar protest eviction from low-cost housing held since 2010

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Families living in low-cost housing units in Anbar province's Seven Kilometer area have objected to local government steps to implement eviction orders covering the residences. The residents said they had received the units through administrative decisions and had repaired and maintained them with their own resources over the years. Many of the families were displaced during the period when ISIS controlled the area. Upon returning, they found the units burned, demolished or looted and said they rebuilt them at their own expense before resettling. Most residents are low-income, widowed, orphaned, related to fallen soldiers or disabled, and said they have no other housing or rental options, making the eviction decision unacceptable. Some families warned they could stage sit-ins or take further action if the order is enforced. They said they are not opposed to the law itself but want the process carried out fairly, with field inspections of each unit. The residents asked Anbar Governor Omar al-Dabbous to send a specialist team to examine each housing unit individually and to reclaim the properties from anyone identified as renting or occupying them unlawfully. No further details were immediately available on the timeline or scope of the planned evictions.