On Saturday, top Kurdish leaders commemorated the 46th anniversary of the Faili Kurdish genocide committed by the Iraqi Ba’ath regime and called for compensation for the victims from the Iraqi federal government.

“The fourth of April is a day of sorrow in the memory of the people of Kurdistan, as it marks the anniversary of the genocide committed against our Faili Kurdish brothers and sisters, who were subjected to persecution, massacres, and grave injustice solely because of their Kurdish identity and affiliation,” President Masoud Barzani said.

“The martyrdom of thousands of young people, the confiscation of identity papers and official documents, and the forced deportation of tens of thousands of Faili Kurdish families were only part of the inhumane and systematic policies pursued by the former Iraqi regime against the people of Kurdistan.”

Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a post on X that thousands of Faili Kurds were killed, imprisoned, or displaced by the former Ba’athist regime. 

“Once again, we remind the federal government of its moral, legal, and constitutional responsibility to provide reparations to the victims of the Genocide of the [Faili] Kurds, the chemical weapons attacks, the Anfal Genocide and all the victims of the former Iraqi regime.”

The Faili Kurds are a Shi’a Kurdish community, unlike the majority of Kurds, who adhere to the Sunni branch of Islam. The Faili Kurds are predominantly located in areas across Iraq and Iran and their name originates from the Persian term “Faili,” reflecting their historical ties to the Faili tribe.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Faili Kurds faced deliberate persecution by the Ba’ath regime, leading to forced displacement of nearly 600,000 individuals to Iran. 

“The forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of Faili and the disappearance of tens of thousands more represent a racist Ba’athist genocide that has left Iraq with a somber history and a painful legacy,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement.

“On this occasion, we emphasize that the Iraqi Federal Government must meet its responsibilities and, in line with the ruling of the Iraqi High Criminal Court, which classified the act as genocide, provide material and moral compensation to the victims and restore their citizenship and property.”