Protest in Arab-Jubour against demolition plans

BAGHDAD, January 6 — Dozens of residents from the Al-Hawasha area in Arab-Jubour, south of Baghdad, staged a demonstration, displaying pictures of Nouri al-Maliki, the head of the State of Law Coalition. They appealed to him to intervene with the government and reverse the decision to demolish their homes. This comes after the Baghdad Municipality’s teams issued a final warning to residents to evacuate their houses and demolished some of their fences, citing encroachment on state land.

Abu Mohammed Al-Jubouri, a resident in the area, spoke to 964media says:

“We have been living on Abu Dukha Street in Al-Hawasha since the 1990s, and we purchased the land with our own money. We urge the government and all political entities to consider the fate of over 1,000 families living in this area and avoid their displacement. All residents in the area are from the impoverished class and have no alternative or means to buy alternative housing,”

Another resident, Sabah Abdul Qadir, said:

“The reason the government is moving towards evacuating the houses is that the land is officially owned by the government, although the land was classified under contract 17, and many residents have documents proving this. The contracts expired in 1995, and they were not renewed, so the ownership of the land reverted to the government and was distributed to members of the special forces. We call on the government to find an alternative for the families or provide land to the security forces in another location, leaving this land for the poor. We support the law and the government, but the financial situation is very difficult for all families,”.