Arab Refugees in Kurdistan Defy Maliki with their Ballots

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –Hundreds of miles away from home and refugees in the Kurdistan Region, many Iraqis who have fled the recent wave of violence in the western province of Anbar went to the polls on Wednesday to make sure their candidates make it to the next parliament.

Some candidates however, had already managed to disappoint some refugees.

“Do you know that one of the candidates for the Iraqi Parliament from Fallujah is offering us refugees money if we vote for him?” said Wuqas, a professor in Arabic languages from Fallujah as he stepped out of an orange Mercedes to cast his vote at ‘Polling Station Anbar 1’ outside Erbil.

Wuqas, who fled his hometown of Fallujah four months ago, claimed that the candidate had offered $200 for every five votes.

“The Sunni candidates have destroyed us,” he said. “They are not qualified for the work in the Parliament. They are only there because of their ethnic background.”

The area surrounding Andazyiaran School was littered with posters of Arab candidates hoping to win over the refugees.

The Iraqi Electoral Commission had set up special polling booths for the approximately 30,000 Arabs who have fled Ramadi and Fallujah and sought shelter in the safety of the Kurdistan Region.

Their anger with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Shiite government had driven many refugees to Andazyiaran School to fight him back with their ballots.

“We want change, we need safety,” said a lawyer from Baghdad who arrived in Kurdistan ten days ago after his uncle was killed.

“The situation in Baghdad is terrible,” he lamented. “Sunnis cannot stay there. It has got too dangerous. I really hope to see the change.”

The Baghdadi lawyer said that he sees no future for himself in Baghdad with Maliki in power. “If al-Maliki stays, I will stay in Erbil,” he said.

Baker, a translator from Fallujah went so far as to say, “If Al-Maliki gets his third term, we will get out of Iraq.”

Unlike most other refugees, Baker cast his vote with no hope of making a difference.

“I vote, but I have no hope it gets better,” he told Rudaw. “We only want to make sure our vote does not get lost.”

He described the situation in Fallujah as abysmal. He said his family home was recently flooded after insurgents had closed a dam on the nearby Euphrates River, causing a disaster as far away as Abu Ghraib, some 30 kilometers away.

Many voters said they had lost trust in their politicians while accusing the Iraqi government of employment discrimination against Sunnis, random arrests and utter marginalization.

“I don’t trust any politician anymore,” said one of Baker’s companions. “They destroyed our province Anbar.”

“They did not do anything for us in the past ten years,” he echoed Baker. “I only come here to make sure my vote is not stolen.”

The distrust shown by these voters outside the polling station seemed to disappear as soon they stepped inside and lined up patiently to reach the ballot box.

At this station there were no electronic voting machines as seen in other stations. The reason being the Arab voters weren’t registered as local residents and therefore had to contend with showing their Iraqi IDs or food coupons.

The procedure did not appear to guarantee anonymity as personal details and ballots were dropped together in the same box. Though nobody raised an issue.

To most, the process was about satisfying their ‘conscience”.

“It is important to change the persons who represent us in Parliament to improve our situation,” said Bushra, a school headmaster Fallujah.