Citizens covered by article 140 are deprived of their lands for 17 years, local official says

Shafaq News/ A local official in the Diyala Governorate confirmed on Thursday that citizens covered by Article 140 in the Khanaqin district have received residential plots for more than 17 years.

The director of the Khanaqin office for implementating Article 140, Adnan Mansour Al-Dalawi, told Shafaq News Agency, "No one covered by Article 140 has received so far a residential land in the Khanaqin district and its administrative affiliates due to the procrastination and lack of seriousness of the concerned departments under unconvincing arguments and justifications."

He stressed that the committee implementing Article 140 in Khanaqin "fulfilled its tasks regarding land distribution and sent official documents and electronic lists to the Governorate’s administration with the names of those included in the financial compensation," noting, "the governorate administration, in turn, instructed Khanaqin administration to distribute the lands, but it has not taken place for more than 17 years now."

Al-Dalawi added, "the local administration of Khanaqin district is responsible for distributing residential lands, and it has to resolve this file in Khanaqin, Mandali, Qazaniyah, Saadia, Jalawla,..."

He called for "mandating municipal departments to implement the decisions of Article 140 and its provisions", holding the municipalities and some administrative units responsible for obstructing the distribution of lands to those affected by the policies of the former regime.

He pointed out that the allocation and distribution of lands for those covered by Article 140 "are not difficult," stressing the existence of "duplication in the Municipalities Directorate's dealings with those covered by Article 140, and government agencies must implement the constitutional decisions that represent Iraqi law."

For his part, the mayor of Khanaqin, Delir Hasan Sayeh, attributed the lack of distribution of residential lands for those covered by Article 140 to the lack of detached plots of land, in addition to the large number of residential abuses and slums that have seized vast areas of state property.

In his interview with Shafaq News Agency, Sayeh affirmed his support for the demands of those covered by Article 140, similar to other social strata, "because they have suffered from social woes and calamities as a result of forced deportation by the former regime or displacement for various reasons and reasons."

The former Iraqi regime, which was overthrown in 2003 by international forces led by the US, had made demographic changes in areas inhabited by a national mixture in favor of Arabs at the expense of the Kurds.

Article 140 in the Iraqi constitution says to remove the effects of previous policies before holding a referendum in those areas to determine their administrative subordination to the Kurdistan Region or the Federal Government of Baghdad.