Shafaq News / The second deputy speaker of Parliament, Shakhwan Abdullah Ahmed, considered the issue of "restoring the rights of the Faili Kurds" as a "great national responsibility" and pledged to follow up on their cases on the level of the nationality law and the property disputes.

Shakhwan's media office said, "The Deputy Speaker received a delegation from the Faili Kurds' Coordination Committee in Baghdad. They discussed the living conditions of the Faili Kurds and the marginalization they suffer."

Ahmed confirmed that "the Faili Kurds are an original component in Kurdistan. They suffered a lot during dictatorial regimes and made great sacrifices because of their Kurdish nationalism… restoring their legitimate rights and fairness is a great national responsibility."

He pledged to "follow up on the file of the Faili Kurds regarding the nationality law and the issue of property disputes, and to direct state institutions to recover their stolen property and rights."

Faili Kurds are an ethnic group historically inhabiting both sides of the Zagros mountain range along the Iraq-Iran border.

Today, the estimated 1.5 million Faili Kurds in Iraq live mainly in Baghdad and the eastern parts of Diyala, Wasit, Maysan, and Basra governorates. However, a sizeable population can also be found in the Kurdistan region.

In 2006, a nationality law was passed in the Iraqi Parliament, which repealed Decree No. 666 and established the right to regain Iraqi nationality for those previously denaturalized on political, religious, or ethnic grounds. The Iraqi Parliament also unanimously passed a resolution in 2011 recognizing the crimes perpetrated against the Faili Kurds as genocide. In addition, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted four Ba'ath party officials in connection with their roles in the deportations.