Palestinians in Iraq
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (10,000 to 13,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Baghdad, Basra, Mosul, Baqubah | |
| Languages | |
| Palestinian Arabic, Iraqi Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Sunni Muslims with some Christians (mostly Roman Catholic). | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Palestinian people |
Palestinians in Iraq are people of Palestinian ancestry, most of whom have been residing in Iraq after they were expelled from their homeland in 1948. Before 2003, there were approximately 34,000 Palestinians thought to be living in Iraq, mainly concentrated in Baghdad. However, since the 2003 Iraq war, the figure lies between 10,000–13,000, although a precise figures has been hard to determine. The situation of Palestinians in Iraq deteriorated after the fall of Saddam Hussein and particularly following the bombing of the Al-Askari Mosque in 2006. Since then, with the rise in insecurity throughout Iraq, they have been the target of persecution and violence, with militant groups (mostly Shia) targeting them for (what the militant groups claim to have been) preferential treatment they received under the Ba'ath Party rule. Currently, several hundred Palestinians from Iraq are living in border camps, after being refused entry to neighbouring Jordan and Syria. Others have been resettled to third countries.
The birth of the Palestinian community in modern Iraq dates back to 1948, when the Iraqi army, which had been fighting in Palestine, returned to Baghdad with a group of Palestinians who had been forced to flee their homes in Haifa and Jaffa. In addition, some Palestinian villagers had been forcibly drafted by the invading Iraqi army, and they and their families were allowed to resettle in Iraq. Following the 1967 War with Israel, a second larger wave of Palestinians sought refuge in Iraq. The third and final wave occurred in 1991 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, when those Palestinians living in Kuwait fled. Over the years, there were also many Palestinians who came to Iraq in search of work. Prior to 2003, there were approximately 25,000 registered Palestinian refugees living in Iraq. In December 2010, approximately 10,000 Palestinians remained in Iraq, the majority of whom were living in and around Baghdad.
Iraq is not a signatory of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the protection of refugees. Palestinians were never awarded official status by the Iraqi authorities, but were given a degree of protection and assistance by the Iraqi government, guided by the Casablanca Protocol of the League of Arab States in 1965. During Saddam Hussein’s rule, Palestinians received by and large equitable treatment. They were granted residency permits, full access to government services including healthcare and education, and were also permitted to work. The government also issued special travel documents for Palestinian refugees, allowing them to travel freely around Iraq but making it extremely difficult to leave the country. Some political and sectarian entities claim that Palestinians were treated favourably under the Ba’thist regime. The government built special housing complexes, and provided heavily subsidized accommodation for Palestinians. Palestinians were also exempt from military service, and scholarships were also awarded to (a tiny minority of) Palestinian students, enabling them to study at certain universities. During the years of economic sanctions in the 1990s, the Iraqi government froze rent prices, forcing a few Iraqi landlords to rent their apartments to Palestinians for as little as $1 per month. This was also a cause of some resentment among those few Iraqis toward Palestinians.
...
Wikipedia