Baghdad – Families of victims of the Anfal genocide gathered in the capital on Sunday, renewing calls for the return of the remains of their loved ones, believed to be buried in unmarked mass graves scattered across southern Iraq. Many of these graves have yet to be uncovered, even decades after the atrocities were committed.
The emotional gathering included individuals who have spent years searching for answers and closure. Amina Mohammed, who lost multiple family members, tearfully expressed, “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.”
Despite the passage of 37 years since the end of the Anfal campaign, many mass graves remain unexcavated. The latest discovery came in December, when satellite imagery identified potential grave sites in Samawa, Muthanna province. These are believed to hold the remains of around 150 Kurdish women and children.
The Anfal campaign, which unfolded in eight brutal stages throughout the late 1980s, led to the killing of over 182,000 Kurds and the destruction of more than 4,500 villages in the Kurdistan Region. Victims were often detained at the Topzawa military base near Kirkuk, separated by age and gender, and transported to execution sites in the south.
“For years I carried the pain of my missing brother,” said Shukriya Fatah, another demonstrator. “He never came back. What remains is only sorrow.”
Faraj Ahmad, who also lost family during the campaign, emphasized the collective plea of the demonstrators: “We are here to demand the return of the remains to their rightful resting place in the Kurdistan Region—their home.”
Others, like Bestoon Mohammed, voiced frustration over what they see as ongoing neglect. “No one listens to the Kurdish people anymore. Even among ourselves, we struggle to maintain unity.”
After the protest, a delegation of the victims’ families met with the head of the Iraqi Martyrs’ Foundation, who pledged to present their demands to the relevant parliamentary committee and the Prime Minister. According to Hawar Dawoudi, a representative for the group, earlier requests to meet the Prime Minister had been denied. “We hope we can see him in the future,” he added.
Though Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court officially recognized the Anfal campaign as a crime against humanity in 2008, victims’ families and survivors say meaningful justice and recognition have yet to be achieved.
Anfal is remembered as one of the darkest chapters in the long history of violence against Iraq’s Kurdish population—a history that also includes forced displacement, disappearances, and chemical attacks. As survivors continue to seek accountability, the call for truth, justice, and remembrance remains as urgent as ever.
