Iraq Escalate Kirkuk Ethnic-Cleansing 

Aug 9, 2001
Kurdistan Newsline

According to reliable reports from from Kirkuk, the Iraqi authorities have embarked on a
new intense campaign of ethnic-cleansing in Kirkuk and other areas of Kurdistan under its
control. The Iraqis are planning to settle six thousand Arab families from Himreen, Riyadh
and Hawija, in Lailan, Qara Hanjeer and Shwan areas of Kirkuk. 
As part of the Iraqi regime's incentive policy of Arabization, twenty two food distribution
franchises 

( normally a government monopoly) have been granted, free of charge, to the new Arab
settlers in the villages of Salayee, Lailan and Qara Hassan. The Iraqi authorities have issued
directives to all official bodies, especially the Cement Factory in Kirkuk, to offer all their
resources in facilitating the Arabization project of what as popularly known as, " The Ten
Thousand Families." This refers to the ten thousand Arab settlers brought in by the Iraqi
authorities , replacing indigenous Kurdish and Turkoman families who have been forcibly
displaced. The Arab settlers have been given a free plot of land and each family has been
awarded a free grant of ID10,000 as incentive for settlement.