Shabak raise home demolition fears in Nineveh amid removal dispute
Shafaq News- Nineveh
Iraq's Shabak community warned on Wednesday that more than 150 homes across parts of Nineveh, including the Nineveh Plains, could face demolition, while political influence was reportedly obstructing the removal of unauthorized buildings elsewhere in Mosul.
Mohammed Aref, the council's representative for the Shabak community —an ethnic and religious minority concentrated in the Nineveh Plains— told Shafaq News that Mosul Municipality plans to demolish homes in the villages of Jliyokhan and Qaza Fakhra, as well as in Kokjali and other parts of the Nineveh Plains.
According to Aref, the homes have been inhabited by Shabak families since 1994 but are now slated for demolition under expropriation decisions inherited from Iraq's former regime, despite residents never having received compensation. He appealed to the prime minister and parliament speaker to intervene and consider the Shabak's historical presence in the area.
"We are not against the law, but we demand justice for residents in their hometowns.”
Meanwhile, municipal teams attempted on Wednesday to remove four unauthorized houses in Al-Samah district east of Mosul, a source in the district administration told Shafaq News. The operation was halted after a member of the Nineveh Provincial Council intervened and requested that the occupants be granted at least one week to seek a solution.
The source described Mosul District Commissioner Hisham Al-Hashimi as facing mounting pressure in tackling encroachment cases because of political patronage and intervention by influential parties seeking to block enforcement measures. The official also questioned how council decisions calling for stricter enforcement could be implemented while some members continued to intervene on behalf of violators.
The developments come a day after the Nineveh Provincial Council approved a package of measures lifting long-standing restrictions on construction on legally registered private land on the outskirts of Mosul as part of efforts to resolve a land dispute that intensified after the defeat of ISIS.
The measures require municipalities to issue building permits to owners holding officially registered freehold property titles, begin land-leveling work, remove security barriers erected during the ISIS conflict, and hold officials accountable for obstructing implementation. Aref announced plans to challenge the decision before Iraq's administrative and Federal courts, arguing that it overlooks constitutional protections for minority-populated areas in the Nineveh Plains.
Read more: Nineveh Council lifts building restrictions on Mosul outskirts amid demographic dispute
