Iraq: Law prohibiting the employment of members of the Turkmen ethnic group; application and employer adherence; affect on Turkmen employed upon entrance into law
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 12 June 2002 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRQ38948.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iraq: Law prohibiting the employment of members of the Turkmen ethnic group; application and employer adherence; affect on Turkmen employed upon entrance into law, 12 June 2002, IRQ38948.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be4d0.html [accessed 25 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. |
The Research Directorate was unable to find reports referring to a specific law or laws, prohibiting the employment of Turkmen in Iraq among sources consulted for this Response. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), however, did refer to a prohibition preventing "non-Arabs ... from inheriting, repairing houses, or buying businesses or real estate ... [and barring them] from taking jobs in the oil zones or the town, etc." (Feb. 2002).
The Turkoman Eli, a newspaper published by the Iraqi Turkmen Front, an organization that was established on 24 April 1995 to unify existing Turkoman political groups (RFE/RL 5 Mar. 1999), refers to one Iraqi law that denies Turkmen the right to register shops in their names (28 Nov. 1999). The report highlights the law's stipulations as being, payment of "5,000 dinars, change their national identity to Arab and submit a request in writing to change their national identity and pay legal fees" (ibid.).
Reportedly, members of this minority group have faced difficulty in gaining or maintaining employment in Iraq and the United Nations highlighted the "denial of equal access to employment and educational opportunities" as being one of its principle subjects of concern in 2001 (12 Apr. 2001). Turkish scholar H. Tarik Oğuzlu also noted that
Since the Ba'ath regime made it difficult for the Turkomans either to run their own business or to get involved in other aspects of economic life in northern Iraq, it turned into a necessity for some of the Turkomans to flee these areas and seek their chance in other places (Foreign Policy Institute 2001, 20).
According to Turkoman Eli:
The central government does not allow the admission of Turkoman students at Iraqi institutions and colleges. Turkoman students have to start private business after graduation from intermediate and secondary schools. ... The central government does [not] employ Turkoman graduates in the civil service, unless they alter their national identity to Arab; otherwise they would remain unemployed. ... Ba'th party officials are now carrying out a plan of expelling Turkoman citizens from Iraqi offices and companies gradually [and] also replac[ing] Turkoman heads of office and company, without having the same qualifications and experience (28 Nov. 1999).
In January 2002 a Kurdish newspaper referred to the dismissal of with 300 people of the Kurdish and Turkoman minority groups from their employment with the Northern Oil Company in Kirkuk and their expected replacement by Arab workers (Regay Kurdistan 14 Jan. 2002). RFE/RL also refers to a dismissal of 300 oil workers in Kirkuk and mentions similar earlier cases in "Bayji and a few other establishments" (22 Feb. 2002).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate 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. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Foreign Policy Institute [Ankara]. 2001. H. Tarik Oğuzlu. "The Turkomans of Iraq as a Factor in Turkish Foreign Policy: Socio-Political and Demographic Perspectives."
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). February 2002. Iraq: An Intolerable Forgotten and Unpunished Repression.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 22 February 2002. Iraq Report Vol. 5, No. 7. David Nissman. "Three Hundred Turkmen Workers Dismissed from Kirkuk Oil Company."
_____. 5 March 1999. Iraq Report. Vol. 2, No. 9. David Nissman. "The Iraqi Turkomans: Who They Are and What They Want."
Regay Kurdistan (Arbil, Iraq, in Sorani Kurdish). 14 January 2002. "Iraq: Government Reportedly Bans Turkoman Language at Governorate Offices." (FBIS-NES-2002-0118 14 Jan. 2002/WNC).
– FBIS refers to this newspaper as a weekly published by the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan (Regay Kurdistan 14 Jan. 2002).
Turkoman Eli [Arbil, Iraq, in Arabic]. 28 November 1999. "Iraq: Turkomans in Kirkuk Reportedly Deprived of Rights." (BBC Monitoring 9 Dec. 1999/NEXIS)
United Nations. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). 12 April 2001. (CERD/C/304/Add.80). Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Iraq.
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
NEXIS
Internet sites including:
Country Reports 2001
Danish Refugee Council
European Country of Origin Information Network
Findlaw
Global IDP Database
Internet Law Library
Iraqi Turkmen Front
Irak Türkmenleri Kültür Dernegi
Kerk ük Vakfi
Turkish Daily News
Turkmeneli Co-operation and Cultural Foundation
Turkmeneli: Homeland of the Iraqi Turkmen
United Kingdom, Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Iraq Assessment 2002
UN Commission of Human Rights
World News Connection
