Iraq's Faili Kurds press for political unity decades after Baathist displacement

BAGHDAD, Iraq — BAGHDAD — Iraq's Faili Kurdish community, displaced and stripped of identity under the Baath regime in the 1980s, remains politically fragmented between Baghdad and Erbil, according to a published analysis of the community's status. Thousands were expelled, families were separated and mass graves were concealed during a crackdown that combined forced migration with the revocation of citizenship on the basis of an identity that merged Kurdish nationalism with Shiite affiliation. After 2003, returnees were caught between competing power centers in the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, the analysis said. A reserved seat in parliament set aside for the community has been shaped largely by the country's major parties, while internal rivalries and organizational disarray have made it difficult to forge a common political voice. A proliferation of social media pages and groups has done little to translate visibility into leverage. The author calls for an inclusive "Faili honor pact" to unite the community's factions, for Faili members of parliament to act as a single bloc, and for an independent communications strategy aimed at younger generations. The analysis frames these steps as a way to address wounds that have remained unhealed in the absence of a political resolution.