Iraq’s displaced, from Anbar to Kurdistan
On Wednesday, as Iraqis lined up to vote in parliamentary elections—the first since the withdrawal of U.S. forces, in 2011—many were far from home, scattered across the country by a new wave of violence. For tens of thousands of families from Anbar Province, where fighting between Iraqi security forces and Al Qaeda-inspired militants has raged […]Jenna Krajeski writes in the New Yorker:
On Wednesday, as Iraqis lined up to vote in parliamentary elections—the first since the withdrawal of U.S. forces, in 2011—many were far from home, scattered across the country by a new wave of violence. For tens of thousands of families from Anbar Province, where fighting between Iraqi security forces and Al Qaeda-inspired militants has raged since September, this sense of displacement is particularly profound, because they have taken refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan, the country’s autonomous northern region, which was once a retreat for American soldiers and is still touted as the war’s great success story.
While Anbar is mired in violence, Kurdistan is building hotels and courting international oil companies to explore its untapped reserves. As Iraqis wonder aloud whether a newly elected parliament can decrease sectarian violence, Kurdish politicians have been campaigning on promises of independence from Iraq.
