Families of Anfal genocide victims gathered in front of Iraqi government's Martyrs' Foundation building in Baghdad on April 20, 2025. Photo: screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Families of the Anfal genocide victims gathered in Baghdad on Sunday to demand the return of their loved ones’ remains, believed to be buried in multiple mass graves in southern Iraq - many of which remain undiscovered.
Among the protesters in Baghdad was Amina Mohammed, who told Rudaw, “My heart is full of grief. I am going to [the place where] my brothers [are believed to be buried] - all of them are in Samawa.”
Thirty-seven years after the end of the Anfal campaign, dozens of mass graves have yet to be located or excavated. Efforts to uncover them are ongoing. The most recent discovery came on December 22, when satellite imagery revealed several mass graves in the city of Samawa in Muthanna province. It is estimated that around 150 Kurdish women and children were killed at the site.
The Anfal campaign, carried out in eight stages across the Kurdistan Region in the late 1980s, resulted in the massacre of more than 182,000 Kurds and the destruction of over 4,500 villages. Victims were often taken to the Topzawa military camp near Kirkuk, where they were separated by age and gender before being transported to execution sites in multiple places in southern Iraq.
“We are here to demand the return of the remains to the Kurdistan Region - their home,” Faraj Ahmad, another demonstrator, said.
Shukriya Fatah, who also lost family members to the campaign, described her lingering pain: “For this brother of mine, I suffered misery for years afterward. Eventually, my brother was gone. I survived, and I was left only with grief.”
Bestoon Mohammed, another relative, expressed frustration with political inaction. “The reason is that now there's no one who listens to the Kurdish people. Even among ourselves, as much as we criticize each other, we don't strive for brotherhood.”
After the protest, representatives of the families met with the head of the Iraqi Martyrs' Foundation to present their demands.
“He promised to take the demands to the martyrs' committee in the [federal] parliament and to the prime minister [Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani]. We had previously requested to meet with the prime minister, but he refused. We hope we can see him in the future,” Hawar Dawoudi, speaking on behalf of the victims' relatives, told Rudaw.
In 2008, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court officially recognized the Anfal campaign as a crime against humanity. Yet 17 years later, survivors and victims’ families say they have received little in the way of justice or support.
Anfal was only one chapter in a broader campaign of genocide and discrimination against the Kurds. That history also includes the forced demographic changes in Kirkuk during the 1960s, the disappearance of Faili Kurds in the 1970s, and the chemical attack on Halabja in 1988.
Among the protesters in Baghdad was Amina Mohammed, who told Rudaw, “My heart is full of grief. I am going to [the place where] my brothers [are believed to be buried] - all of them are in Samawa.”
Thirty-seven years after the end of the Anfal campaign, dozens of mass graves have yet to be located or excavated. Efforts to uncover them are ongoing. The most recent discovery came on December 22, when satellite imagery revealed several mass graves in the city of Samawa in Muthanna province. It is estimated that around 150 Kurdish women and children were killed at the site.
The Anfal campaign, carried out in eight stages across the Kurdistan Region in the late 1980s, resulted in the massacre of more than 182,000 Kurds and the destruction of over 4,500 villages. Victims were often taken to the Topzawa military camp near Kirkuk, where they were separated by age and gender before being transported to execution sites in multiple places in southern Iraq.
“We are here to demand the return of the remains to the Kurdistan Region - their home,” Faraj Ahmad, another demonstrator, said.
Shukriya Fatah, who also lost family members to the campaign, described her lingering pain: “For this brother of mine, I suffered misery for years afterward. Eventually, my brother was gone. I survived, and I was left only with grief.”
Bestoon Mohammed, another relative, expressed frustration with political inaction. “The reason is that now there's no one who listens to the Kurdish people. Even among ourselves, as much as we criticize each other, we don't strive for brotherhood.”
After the protest, representatives of the families met with the head of the Iraqi Martyrs' Foundation to present their demands.
“He promised to take the demands to the martyrs' committee in the [federal] parliament and to the prime minister [Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani]. We had previously requested to meet with the prime minister, but he refused. We hope we can see him in the future,” Hawar Dawoudi, speaking on behalf of the victims' relatives, told Rudaw.
In 2008, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court officially recognized the Anfal campaign as a crime against humanity. Yet 17 years later, survivors and victims’ families say they have received little in the way of justice or support.
Anfal was only one chapter in a broader campaign of genocide and discrimination against the Kurds. That history also includes the forced demographic changes in Kirkuk during the 1960s, the disappearance of Faili Kurds in the 1970s, and the chemical attack on Halabja in 1988.
Hunar Hamid contributed to this article.
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