Iraqi government can access ethnicity data after census, official warns

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Although Iraq’s anticipated population census does not include an ethnicity question, a Kurdistan Region official warned on Monday that the federal government can access ethnicity data, raising concern regarding the fate of the disputed areas.

“The census is based on the national identity card, which contains information about every registered individual categorized by ethnicity and religion. This means that with a single click, the Iraqi government can determine the proportions of ethnicities in the census, whether in Kirkuk, the Kurdistani areas outside the administration of the Kurdistan Region, or any other location in Iraq,” Fahmi Burhan, head of the Kurdistan Region's board for disputed territories told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih.

Iraq is set to hold its nationwide population census on Wednesday. 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, especially in the city of Kirkuk.

In a bid to address the Kurdish concerns, earlier this month the Iraqi government approved a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) request to conduct the census based on residents’ place of origin rather than their current place of residence, using information from the Iraqi migration ministry and the 1957 census for reference in the disputed areas.

The census will not seek information on ethnicity.

Burhan said that unverified data shows that “more than 80,000 Kurdish families of Kirkuk left their areas during the Baathist era and Arabization policy and forced displacement.” 

The Kurdish official noted that the disputed areas have “undergone major and volatile changes,” labeling the changes as a “fundamental danger”.

“This danger goes beyond the discussions [on the identity of the disputed areas] and extends into arguments presented in official state documents,” Burhan said.

The KRG earlier this month stated 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).”

Article 140 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.  It also includes including the return of lands and properties to their original owners.

Iraq last conducted a census in 1997 without the Kurdistan Region; the last census including provinces in the Kurdistan Region was in 1987.

Estimates now put Iraq’s population around 50 million. A census planned for 2020 was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.