Iraq ends a historical discrimination against the gypsies : national identity without giving any information about their origin
The Gypsies have suffered many years of persecution and discrimination due to their names as gypsies on their identification documents, but the Iraqi government ends this discrimination by giving them national cards without making any reference to their origin.
News Center :
The origins of Gypsies :
The origins of gypsies belong to the Indian peninsula and Karachi city in Pakistan, they migrated to various countries of the world, especially to the middle east, they are known for a lot of their movements until the late seventies.
Their names differs according to the countries they live , Jitan in France, Skye in Spain, Jed in Russia, Zanki in Iran , Gypsy in England and America , GHajar in Egypt, Nawar in AL sham, Qurbat in Aleppo, Tuscan in Romania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, Kaoli in Iraq , Gurg in Mussel. They are a minority ethnic group and their population is about 50 to200 thousand people.
Persecution and Discrimination :
Gypsies have suffered from racial discrimination by society and authorities throughout expulsion campaigns, displacement, arrest and killing policies. which has caused poverty, unemployment , illiteracy and denial of public services.
The granting of Iraqi citizenship in 1979 represented a qualitative shift in their lives, and contributed mainly to their stability, but official papers bear the name of gypsy and this is enough to discrimination against them in work places,, education, ownership and sales and purchase contracts.
That is step enables gypsies to integrate into Iraqi society and its institutions, and the young men joined to military service, and they are granted the right to education and salaries and houses were built for them.
The symbol that was placed on the gypsy documents was contrary to the Iraqi constitution, because the constitution criminalizes any racist symbols or discrimination among Iraqis on the basis of color, ethnic , religion or race.
After the full of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 and the spread of militias in the country, the gypsies were attacked by revenge, especially since the gypsy worked in singing and dancing.
The worst was in 2004, when their village were destroyed in southeastern Baghdad by Mehdi army , on the pretext that they were non-moral.
End of historical discrimination against the gypsy :
The Iraqi interior ministry ended the historical discrimination against the Gypsies by granting them a unified national card without any symbol to being gypsies as before in April 2019 and they become like Iraqi citizens.
Professions of Gypsy:
They have practiced several professions, including blacksmith and weapons making such as guns and daggers, making golden and silver teeth, copper pots, jewelry , horse training , practicing ritual magic, astrology in addition playing musical instruments and sing and dance.
After that they have also practiced the begging because of their difficult circumstances, after preventing them from singing and dancing which are a source of their livelihood.
Gypsies live in isolated housing on the outskirts of Iraqi cities and spread in Baghdad, Basra , Nineveh and Mosul in addition to some villages in southern Iraq such as in Muthanna , Diwaniyah and Kanaan.