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Sectarian Internal Migration Plagues Iraq
BAGHDAD, March 23, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Faced with simmering sectarian tensions and the looming prospect of a civil war, thousands of Sunni and Shiite families are fleeing their homes and moving to areas where their respective sects are in majority.
Some 2425 Sunni families have migrated from Shiite-dominated provinces such as Karbala, An-Najaf, Al-Qadisiyah and Babil, according to statement by the Ministry of Migration and Emigrants, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net.
They have moved to cities such as Fallujah, Samarra, Al-Latyfiah and Al-Mahmoudyah, where Sunnis are in majority, added the statement.
Similarly, around 1,280 Shiite families have relocated to the Shiite–majority provinces of Al-Samawah, Dhi Qar, Maysan and Wasit.
The government has allocated 500 million dinars (around $338,000) in relief for these families.
Iraq has been ravaged by sectarian violence since the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad, on February 22.
In the following days, more than 450 civilians, mostly Sunnis, were killed and 81 Sunni mosques targeted, including eight completely destroyed, in reprisal attacks.
At least 46 people, mostly Shiites, were killed and hundreds wounded in car bombings in the Shiite Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City on Sunday, March 12.
Christians Too
The internal migration is not limited to Sunni and Shiite families.
Many Christians have migrated from areas, particularly Baghdad, to Christian villages in northern Iraq over security deterioration.
"Even after selling my Baghdad house I would still needs millions of dinars to buy a similar one in a remote Christian village," one Christian told IOL, declining to put his name.
"I would have to settle for a more humble home in an area where jobs are a bit of a rarity," he added.
Several churches had been targeted in militant attacks over the past months, drawing immediate condemnation from leading Iraqi Sunni and Shiite scholars.
On the third anniversary of the US-led invasion, former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi told the BBC that the war-ravaged country was in the middle of civil war.
Iraqi, American and British officials maintain the situation if difficult but disagree with the civil war argument.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2006-03/23/article04.shtml
They have moved to cities such as Fallujah, Samarra, Al-Latyfiah and Al-Mahmoudyah, where Sunnis are in majority, added the statement.
Similarly, around 1,280 Shiite families have relocated to the Shiite–majority provinces of Al-Samawah, Dhi Qar, Maysan and Wasit.
The government has allocated 500 million dinars (around $338,000) in relief for these families.
Iraq has been ravaged by sectarian violence since the bombing of a revered Shiite mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad, on February 22.
In the following days, more than 450 civilians, mostly Sunnis, were killed and 81 Sunni mosques targeted, including eight completely destroyed, in reprisal attacks.
At least 46 people, mostly Shiites, were killed and hundreds wounded in car bombings in the Shiite Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City on Sunday, March 12.
Christians Too
The internal migration is not limited to Sunni and Shiite families.
Many Christians have migrated from areas, particularly Baghdad, to Christian villages in northern Iraq over security deterioration.
"Even after selling my Baghdad house I would still needs millions of dinars to buy a similar one in a remote Christian village," one Christian told IOL, declining to put his name.
"I would have to settle for a more humble home in an area where jobs are a bit of a rarity," he added.
Several churches had been targeted in militant attacks over the past months, drawing immediate condemnation from leading Iraqi Sunni and Shiite scholars.
On the third anniversary of the US-led invasion, former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi told the BBC that the war-ravaged country was in the middle of civil war.
Iraqi, American and British officials maintain the situation if difficult but disagree with the civil war argument.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2006-03/23/article04.shtml
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