Dukan Tourist Cabins Become Homes for Some Anbar Refugees
DUKAN, Kurdistan Region – Among the thousands who have fled the fighting in Iraq’s Anbar province for the safety of the Kurdistan Region, some 110 families have taken refuge in the Dukan district, where the better off have rented tourist cabins and others huddle in the cold.
“We ran through fire, without being detected by unknown and masked armed groups,” said Ahmed Nisan, 20, who is staying with his wife in one of the cabins, which in warmer weather attract tourists and are normally expensive.
“We ran away from shelling and headed to Sulaimani province. But our life is really difficult here,” Nisan complained.
Alongside the famous Dukan Lake that pulls in the visitors, hordes of men huddled in the cold, before womenfolk in conservative Arab dress tended to children and families farther behind. They were refugees fleeing the fighting in Fallujah.
“We have sold our mobile phones to cover our expenses,” said Nisan, who admitted to being in a better position than the families who could not afford to rent a cabin. Some of the poorer families headed toward the villages around Dukan, while others remained on the streets.
“We have no money. We’re sitting on the street and no one has helped us,” said Ahmed Khalil Kurdi, a young married man who said he was originally Kurdish but could not speak the language. “We call for assistance from the Iraqi and the Kurdish governments,” he said.
The refugees from Anbar have settled mainly in the touristic regions of Dukan district. There are more than 110 refugee families with around 600 individuals. The majority are from Fallujah.
“We are three or four families to a shack,” said Zina Tariq, one of few women who agreed to speak, but only to a female reporter. “Some are staying on the streets, because their poor financial status does not allow them to stay in the cabins. We have not received any help yet,” she complained.
Aso Bakir, mayor of Dukan district, said that refugees had at first been required to furnish assurances that they would eventually evacuate the tourist cabins, but that was waived after a visit by a representative from the provincial council of Anbar.
Tourism operators in Dukan fear that, with the coming of spring when tourists head for Sulaimani and Dukan, visitors will stay away this year because of the presence of refugees.
“In order to evacuate these cabins we have reached an agreement with the representative from Anbar’s provincial council. We will assist the refugees who are financially able to purchase houses and stay here. The others shall be transferred to a camp near Arbat district,” said Bakir.
The refugees have apparently settled in a touristic area because it is currently winter and cabin owners have agreed to cheaper rates during the low season.