Iraq: Information on the Kurdish Feyli (Faily/Falli) families, including their main area of residence and their relationship with other Kurdish groups and the Iraqi regime
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 October 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRQ25134.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iraq: Information on the Kurdish Feyli (Faily/Falli) families, including their main area of residence and their relationship with other Kurdish groups and the Iraqi regime, 1 October 1996, IRQ25134.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac008.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A representative of the Human Rights Alliance in Washington, DC, provided the following information during a telephone interview on 2 October 1996.
The Feylis, who consist of different tribes, are Shia Kurds living in Baghdad and its surrounding towns, along the Iran-Iraq border, and along the main road between Baghdad and the Iranian city of Kermanshah. The Iraqi regime considers the Feylis to be Iranians, and as a result many were deported to Iran during the 1969, 1971 and 1980s deportations. The number of Feylis deported to Iran since the ascension to power of the Baath Party is estimated at 300,000 to 500,000. For the same reason, during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s many Feyli houses were confiscated and about 10,000 Feylis, almost one son of each family, were arrested and subsequently disappeared. During the same period, the Iraqi government also confiscated the properties of many Feyli business people in Baghdad.
The Feylis have been ill-treated by the Iraqi regime for at least three reasons. First, they are Kurds and Shia. The Arab and Sunni Iraqi elite does not want a significant Shia presence in Baghdad, and has tried to change the social structure of the city by deporting the Feylis from Baghdad and settling Sunni Arabs in their place. Second, the Feylis have been ill-treated because of their economic status. After the deportation of Jews from Baghdad during the period 1948 to 1952, the Feylis took over the Bazaar of Baghdad, a development that was seen as an economic threat by the Sunni Arab Iraqi elite. Finally, the Feylis have been ill-treated because of their support for Kurdish anti-government groups. During the 1960s and the 1970s the Feylis mainly supported the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) under Mollah Nostafa Barzani. Since the end of the Barzani era in 1975, when Barzani left Iraq for Iran, the Feylis have supported various opposition groups. Although the Feylis support several Kurdish opposition groups, including the KDP, currently they mainly support the Patriotic Union of Kordistan (PUK).
According to the representative, the Feylis deported to Iran have difficulties in that country as they do not belong to the Iraqi Shia opposition groups supported by Iran.
The following information contained in Amnesty International Report 1995 corroborates some of the statements made by the Human Rights Alliance representative.
New information was received about some of the many detainees who had "disappeared" in previous years. Details emerged of 25 Feyli Kurds (Shi'a Muslims) who were arrested in 1980 and 1981, including 'Ala'uddin Molaei al-Haydari and his nephew Deler who had been arrested in Baghdad in June 1981. Thirty other relatives arrested with them were held for four months and then forcibly expelled to Iran. During the 1970s and 1980s several thousand Shi'a Muslims, both Arabs and Kurds, were forcibly deported to Iran. Thousands of male members of such families were detained in Iraq, however, and, many "disappeared" (1995, 168).
Amnesty International Report 1980 refers to the deportation to Iran of "large numbers of Iraqis of Iranian origin" in April 1979 (1980, 331).
Responses to Information Requests IRQ7202 of 4 December 1990 and SYR11685 of 30 September 1992, which are available at Regional Documentation Centres, provide additional information on the Feylis and their deportation to Iran.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Amnesty International. 1995. Amnesty International Report 1995. New York: Amnesty International USA.
_____. 1980. Amnesty International Report 1980. New York: Amnesty International USA.
Human Rights Alliance, Washington, DC. 2 October 1996. Telephone interview with representative.
