Hassan Bayat is a 71-year-old farmer from the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. He has spent all his life working his land in and raising about 85 sheep on his small farm to support his family. He does not have any employees, but relies solely on family labour. Recently, people displaced by violence in other areas of the country have started camping on his land.
“For the past three months my land has been invaded by families who’ve set up camp in its most productive areas. I inherited this land from my grandfather who was killed by [former President] Saddam Hussein’s regime during an uprising in the 1990s. For 10 years now I have been cultivating rice and planting date trees and a few vegetables for our own consumption but now I’ve had to stop because of those people living here.
“My sheep have started to disappear; so far nine have gone. I’m not sure if they’re taking them but the important thing is that before these people came we didn’t get incidents like that. I need this income to survive and now without a place to plant and with my sheep being stolen, I’m afraid that soon I’ll have to start looking for help, as these people are doing now.
“My family is getting scared, especially the women because unknown men have starting to pass near the house. We don’t know where they come from and what they might do.
“I asked for help [to move these people to another place] from the local authorities of Nassiriyah but they said that they can’t force displaced people to leave because doing so is against their human rights. I know these people are suffering but what about my privacy and working rights on my own land?
“A couple of weeks ago I found children from the displaced group behind my house taking vegetables. I got really upset and when I went to look for their parents, I was treated badly and one man even threatened me with a gun.
“They invaded my property, drank my water and treated me badly. I’m really getting desperate because I can’t get support or security from anyone. If someone decides to target this group [for sectarian reasons], my family is going to be a victim too, accused of giving them support – even though we’re not.
 They are destroying my property, our life, our dreams and we can’t do anything to protect ourselves. |
“We are all illiterate and now even the children who were at school have had to stop going because of the violence. We don’t know anything else apart from farming. We only know how to work the land and with this situation, we might soon be another unemployed family in Iraq.
“My wife told me that the displaced children have destroyed her lovely garden, either picking the flowers and plants or stepping over it while passing by. They are destroying my property, our life, our dreams and we can’t do anything to protect ourselves because for everything that now happens in Iraq, there is just one excuse: the violence.”
as/ar/ed
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
