Iraq says census to be held nationwide after resolving issues with KRG

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s government on Tuesday announced that it approved conducting the general population census nationwide, including the Kurdistan Region, after resolving “technical issues” with authorities in Erbil.

The council approved “conducting a general population census throughout Iraq after resolving technical issues” with the Kurdistan Region Statistics Office (KRSO), according to a statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office following a council of ministers meeting.

The statement added that the council has decided to “increase the financial cost allocated for the census,” to conduct the process “without any delay.”

The process has raised concerns among some Kurdish officials about potential demographic shifts in disputed areas.

The ethnicity question had been a key obstacle to conducting a census between Baghdad and Erbil. A census could contribute to the resolution of many problems like Baathist-era Arabization, the status of disputed the Kirkuk povince, and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s [KRG] share from the federal budget.

In a bid to address the Kurdish concerns, the Iraqi government last week approved a KRG request to conduct the census based on the 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 decision also indicates that KRG representatives can be present at data centers in Baghdad for transparency.

Despite the decisions, KRG’s concerns persist.

Hawre Tofiq, head of the Iraqi presidency’s office of relations and international organizations told Rudaw on Tuesday that Kurdish officials do not deem this process necessary and instead recommend that citizens’ residency information should be based on their place of origin and national identification card.

“Anyone who has come to Kirkuk should be recorded directly on the basis of their national card and hometown,” Tofiq said, explaining that this should be done without requiring verification by a joint committee that compares data from the migration ministry and the 1957 census to exclude individuals from being considered residents of the disputed area.

On Sunday, Shwan Jabar, assistant director of the population census in the Kurdistan Region, told Rudaw that census teams will visit households across the Kurdistan Region to record data between November 16-19.

Iraq last conducted a census in 1997, excluding the provinces of the Kurdistan Region. The last census involving 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.

Iraq commenced its first phase in September by surveying and counting buildings.

 

Nahro Mohammed contributed to this report.