Country: Iraq
Group: Sabian Mandaeans
Date Finalized: November 16, 2021
Team 3: Analisa Jimenez,Kamaria Boyston, Omer Carillo, Elizabeth Ardila
The quality of the data is a 3/3 due to the credible resources pointing to the ethnocide of Sabian Mandaeans.
The Sabian Mandaeans are a small ethnic minority located in southern Iraq. The Sabian Mandaeans are primarily located in the Marshes or on the two rivers, at al-Amara, Qal’at-Salih, Nasiriya, Suq al-Shuyukh and Qurna. Suddam Hussain’s regime forced theSabian Mandaean to relocate within Iraq when the southern marshes of their livelihoods were drained (MERI, 2017).
Since the outbreak of violence in 2003, most Sabian Mandaeans have either fled the country or have been killed by extremists in Iraq. Sabian Mandaeans feared that staying in ISIS-controlled areas would mean either forced conversions or death, since ISIS does not consider them to be ‘People of the Book’ (Minority Rights 2017). As a result of unabated kidnappings, robberies and killings, much of the community has been displaced from Baghdad and areas in the south of Iraq (Wirya and Fawaz 2017). Today, there are fewer than 5,000 remaining in Iraq (Minority Rights 2017).
Sources
- Wirya, K., Fawaz, L.. (2017). The Sabean Mandaeans: Perceptions of Reconciliation and Conflict. Middle East Research Institute. https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/The-Sabean-Mandaeans-Perceptions-of-Reconciliation-and-Conflict-Report.pdf
- Minority Rights Group (n.d.). Sabian Mandaeans. minorityrights.org/minorities/sabian-mandaeans/.
- Zoonen, V. Dave and Khogir Wirya. MERI (Middle Eastern Research Institute). 2017. The Sabean- Mandaeans, Perceptions of Reconciliations and Conflict.