Iraq’s minority crisis deepened in 2025, rights group says

Shafaq News– Erbil

Iraq’s minority communities faced “serious violations” in 2025 that threatened their long-term presence in the country, the Alliance of Iraqi Minorities Network (AIM) said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a conference in Erbil, AIM executive committee member Rajab Kakae estimated that about one million Christians have left Iraq, while roughly 125,000 Yazidis remain displaced in camps over a decade after the 2014 ISIS attacks.

“The 2020 agreement [intended to normalize conditions through deployment of Iraqi security forces] in Sinjar has yet to be implemented,” which, Kakae said, has left large numbers of displaced Yazidis without durable solutions.

Meanwhile, he claimed that armed groups remain present in areas inhabited by minorities, contributing to “persistent security instability and deep social problems.”

Iraq’s minority populations have sharply declined since 2003, with displacement during and after the ISIS conflict reshaping their presence across the country. Many displaced communities, particularly Yazidis and Christians, have yet to return to their ancestral areas, according to official data.

Under Iraq’s electoral system, nine of the 329 parliamentary seats are reserved for ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians, Yazidis, Shabak, Sabean-Mandaeans and Feyli Kurds. Kake explained that dominant political forces have “effectively” taken control of those quota seats, however, undermining their intended purpose.