ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday announced its support for conducting a population census in Iraq for the purpose of development and warned against the count being used for political reasons, especially for the disputed areas. “The Council of Ministers reiterated the Kurdistan Regional Government’s support for the process of conducting a population census for development purposes,” read a statement from the KRG following the council’s meeting in Erbil. Iraq is set to hold its population census November 20-21. The first phase to survey and count buildings commenced in September. In October, the counting process began in the Kurdistan Region, raising concerns among some Kurdish officials about potential demographic shifts in the disputed areas. “It was also underscored that the census should, in no way, be used for political purposes or to negatively impact the implementation of Article 140, and deciding the issues of the Kurdistani areas outside of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s administration (the disputed areas,” the statement added. The KRG stressed that the process should not be “used as a substitution for mechanisms stipulated in Article 140,” according to the statement. The article outlines steps to resolve jurisdictional disputes between the federal government and the KRG over disputed areas like Kirkuk. It calls for a referendum to be completed by 2007 in Kirkuk and in other disputed areas to determine the will of its citizens. However, Iraq last conducted a census in 1997 without the Kurdistan Region; the last census including provinces in the Kurdistan Region was in 1987. Article 140 also calls for normalization steps in the disputed areas, including the return of lands and properties to their original owners. Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic oil-rich province, experienced demographic change under the Baathist regime’s policy of Arabization, designed to force Kurdish landowners out of the oil-rich province. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, successive governments have failed to fully implement steps to reverse the demographic changes and new population shifts in recent years. On Monday, the Iraqi government approved requests from the KRG regarding the census in the disputed areas. The federal government decided that the census in the disputed areas will be conducted by a joint team representing the Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen components, while in Christian-majority areas, a Christian representative will be added to the team. The federal government will also cooperate with the KRG to compare the census results with the federal interior ministry, the 1957 population census, and the trade ministry’s records, as well as data from the migration ministry. According to the decision, people will be registered based on their place of origin rather than their current place of residence. People in disputed areas will be recorded using information from the 1957 census. Immigrants and people living and working in other provinces will be registered per their area of origin. The decision also indicates that KRG representatives can be present at data centers in Baghdad for transparency.
