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Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Ethnic grievances

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Ethnic grievances: Encyclopedia II - Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Ethnic grievances

It is claimed by some sources that oil revenues from the province are spent in other areas of Iran favoured by the Islamic Republic, while they and other Khuzestanis struggle to repair extensive war damage with little revenue or support from the central government. While poverty is rampant amongst all native Khuzestani groups, it is most especially evident amongst the Arabs. Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Alleged racism. Some Arabs feel that they are suspected, unfairly, of complicity in Saddam ...

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan: Encyclopedia II - Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Ethnic grievances

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Ethnic grievances

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Alleged racism

Some Arabs feel that they are suspected, unfairly, of complicity in Saddam Hussein's invasion, and stigmatized as outsiders and interlopers.

One traveler cites several conversations with an ethnic Persian who was showing him the sights of Khuzestan:

The local Arabs sit on the ground behind their wares, the women clad in black with their faces tattooed, the men in their long robes and eghals on their heads. Mina whispers with distaste: "These Arabs were excited at the thought of an Iraqi invasion." [3] Mina tells me that during the black-outs, when the population were implored not to let any light escape into the night, the Arabs would be flashing torches out of their windows. "To try and guide the Iraqi planes," she goes on. "I don’t know if Saddam had promised them something, but they were very keen to let him in." [4]

While this may be evidence that some ethnic Persians distrust Arabs, no account of the Iraq-Iran war, academic or otherwise, mentions any Arab minority support for the invasion. Khuzestani Arabs, as well as the Azeris and Lurs, were among the bravest and most courageous soldiers during the war against Iraq, particularly during the battle of the Liberation of Khorramshahr, and the sacrifices they made in sacred defense (shahaadat) of the homeland are well documented. If there is prejudice, it is unfounded. If anything can be said for certain, it is the fact that Ali Shamkhani, an Iranian Arab from Ahvaz, held Iran's sensitive top military post of Minister of Defense for 8 years from 1997 to 2005.

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Human rights

Amnesty International has highlighted a number of human rights abuses against Ahwazi Arabs in Khuzestan. In 2005, these included:

The persecution of Arabs in Khuzestan [5]
The alleged killing of at least 31 people in unrest in April 2005 [6]
The arbitrary arrest, possible torture and incommunicado detentention of Arab writer and journalist Yusef Azizi Bani-Torof [7] [8]
The incommunicado detention of Taher Mahmoud Tamimi, Mohammad Jalali and at least 37 others in a government crack-down following unrest in April [9]
The incommunicado detention and possible torture of close relatives of Arab tribal leader Hajj Salem Bawi [10]
The incommunicado detention and possible torture of Hamid Qate'Pour (teacher), Emad Rafi'i (teacher) and Mohammad Hezbawi (also known as Hezbaee Zadeh) (newspaper editor) [11]
Four Arabs arrested during demonstrations during El Al-Fitr in 6 November [12]

Amnesty has also claimed that "hundreds" of Arabs were arrested in 2005 during a crack-down on anti-government demonstrations.

In 1997, Human Rights Watch reported that "Iranian Arabs, an ethnic minority centered in southwest Iran, have cited significant restrictions on their language and culture, and on their right to participate effectively in decisions affecting the area in which they live." [13]. According to another report in the same year, "Arabic is not taught in elementary schools, and the Arabic teaching in secondary schools focuses exclusively on religious texts. The governor of Khuzestan is not an Arab" while "Arabs make up 70 percent of the three million inhabitants of Khuzestan province in the southwest of Iran." [14] In 2005, there have been reports of unrest over grievances of local Arabs such as "inadequate attention to their culture and language by state media, facing discrimination in getting jobs, unfair distribution of Khuzestan's oil wealth." [15] In January 2006, a third attempt by local Majlis members to redistribute 1.5% of revenues to Khuzestan's provincial government was voted down.

In 2005, HRW criticised the treatment of Khuzestani Arab writer and journalist Yusef Azizi Bani-Torof, who was arrested after he spoke out about the killing of local residents during the protests, which began on April 15. The organisation also criticised the killing of civilians by security forces in the unrest and quoted "government critics" as stating that "at least 50 people were killed." HRW said it had been provided with a list of names of those killed, including two boys aged eight and 12, by the US-based Ahwaz Human Rights Organisation. This contradicted government claims that no more than four people were killed.

HRW also said that the government was demanding a payment of 50,000,000 Iranian rials (US $6250) for each body, "allegedly to compensate for damages to public buildings sustained during the protests. This amount was later reduced to 15,000,000 rials (US$1875)."

Joe Stork, the director of HRW's Middle East division, said: "The Iranian authorities have again displayed their readiness to silence those who denounce human rights violations. We have serious allegations the government used excessive lethal force, arbitrary arrests and torture in Khuzistan." [16]

The Iranian government claims that efforts to disproportionately accentuate the problems in Khuzestan are by certain foreign media or political groups, particularly those based in the UK. [17]

Further along this line, it is also believed that Khuzestani Arabs are not as disproportionately affected by poverty or ethnic marginalisation as is claimed, stating that there are poorer and more marginalised sections of Iranian society, including Khuzestani Persians. The governor's office of Khuzestan claims the provincial GDP to rank 3rd in the nation [18], yet to what extent the local population benefits from these fruits remains unclear.

It is also claimed that, contrary to the arguments put forward by human rights groups, Arabic is taught in public schools, with Classical Arabic (Quranic) and Modern Standard Arabic compulsory subjects on the school curriculum. Classical and Modern Arabic are taught for 7 years starting 6th grade into college. As such, the following are actual samples from textbooks taught throughout Iran, aside from the standard Islamic studies classes:

6th grade:
- Modern Arabic (Click on files on row 114_1)
- Quranic Arabic (Click on files on row 112) (also)
7th grade:
- Modern Arabic: (Click on files on row 125) (also)
- Quranic Arabic: (Click on files on row 126) (also)
8th grade:
- Modern Arabic: (Click on files on row 141) (also)
- Quranic Arabic: (Click)
9th grade:
- Modern Arabic: (Click on files on row 204/1)

sources: General Bureau for Authoring Educational Textbooks of Iran and General Bureau for Textbooks Printing and Distribution

It is also contended that the rights of indigenous Persian groups of Khuzestan, such as the nomadic Bakhtiari, are often over-looked due to the publicity surrounding Khuzestani Arabs. However, others contend that the regional Khuzestani Arabic dialect is suppressed, local Arabic newspapers have been closed down and Khuzestani Arab political parties have been banned.

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Khuzestani Arab refugees in Iraq

A report on Iraq published by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in November 2005 drew attention to the plight of Khuzestani Arab refugees in Iraq. [19] The report says that there are around 2,500 Arab refugees in Iraq, most of whom fled the Iran-Iraq War. According to the UNHCR, "... they are predominantly of rural background, and live in local settlements in southern Iraq near the Dujailah area 45 kilometres west of al-Kut."

The refugees had been given land and housing by the regime of Saddam Hussein, but after his downfall in 2003 they were made homeless after being attacked by extremist Arab militias allied to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), an Iraqi Shi'a party supported by the Iranian government. According to the UNHCR, around 80 Khuzestani Arab families were forced out of their homes by opponents of Saddam Hussein and have been relocated to the UNHCR transit centre near Basra. The UNHCR report states that "they were later evacuated by the Iraqi authorities and ever since have been scattered throughout the southern governorates. Many attempted to return to Iran, but came back to Iraq due to alleged harassment by the Iranian authorities and difficulties reintegrating following years in exile."

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Forced displacement

A frequent complaint among Khuzestani Arabs is their forced displacement and the settlement of Azeris and Persians from outside Khuzestan on their land.[20] The problem was highlighted by UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing, following a visit to Khuzestan in July 2005.

In an interview with IRINnews, Kothari said: [21]

"When you visit Ahvaz, in terms of the very adverse conditions in the neighbourhoods, there are thousands of people living with open sewers, no sanitation, no regular access to water, electricity and no gas connections. In Khuzestan ... we drove outside the city about 20 km and we visited the areas where large development projects are coming up - sugar cane plantations and other projects along the river - and the estimate we received is that between 200,000-250,000 Arab people are being displaced from their villages because of these projects. The third issue in Khuzestan, which is very disturbing, is that there is an attempt being made by the government to build new towns and bring in new people from other provinces. For example, there is the new town of Shirinshah where most of the people being brought into that town are people from Yazd province - non-Arabs. So the question then is that these people who are being brought there, perhaps for work and lots of incentives, why is it that those jobs are not going to the locals? We looked in detail in some areas on the issue of compensation and, for example, in Khuzestan the compensation being offered to the Arab villagers who were being displaced is sometimes one fortieth of the market value - and there's nothing they can do about it. It's a fait accompli. That's how it is. And all of these phenomena are continuing. It's something that is happening almost every day."

Underlining the marginalisation of Khuzestani Arabs from the mainstream economy, Khotari said that in Khuzestan's slums, which are dominated by Arabs, "you can actually see the towers of the oil refineries and the flares and all of that money, which is a lot, and it is going out of the province. Even a small percentage would significantly improve things in terms of development."

Kothari also drew attention to the situation facing the Laks, who are an Iranian people indigenous to Khuzestan. He called them "... a very deprived group ... living in conditions of high density, again without access to adequate sanitation and water. And just nearby, you see other neighbourhoods with much better services."

Kothari's description of the position of the Laks suggests that economic marginalisation in Khuzestan is not only experienced by Khuzestani Arabs, but also ethnic Persian groups who are indigenous to the area.

Kothari's findings led to condemnation of forced displacement of Khuzestani Arabs in a European Parliament resolution, passed in October 2005. The resolution, supported by centre-right European People's Party and European Democrats, centre-left Party of European Socialists, centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Greens and the left-wing European United Left,

condemns the treatment of minorities such as ... the inhabitants of the area around Ahwaz city, the provincial capital of the ethnic Arab dominated Khuzestan province, who are being displaced from their villages according to statements by Miloon Kothari, UN Rapporteur on Adequate Housing. [22]

Addressing the European Parliament, European Commissioner Jan Figel, speaking on behalf of Benita Ferrero-Waldner (European Commissioner for External Relations), underlined the "excessive use of force to suppress unrest in the provinces of Khuzestan and Kurdistan" as a matter of "deep concern." [23]

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Arvand Free Zone

Some Ahwazi Arab groups have drawn attention to the creation of the 155 square km Arvand Free Zone project, around the cities of Khorammshahrm, Abadan and Minoo Island, which they claim will intensify the forced displacement of Khuzestani Arabs along the Arvand/Shatt al-Arab, which forms the southern border between Khuzestan and Iraq's Basra province. The website of the Arvand Free Zone Organisation lists some of its goals, including:

Commercial and industrial development
Job creation
Increasing national income
Stabilization of national security [24]

Investment for the Zone has been secured from China, with the manufacturing of "electronic and home appliances, as well as textiles and shoes." [25]

According to a letter published by the Arvand Free Zone Organisation, land falling under its jurisdiction will be expropriated. [26] Ahwazi Arab groups have reacted strongly to the way in which the local population is being treated, claiming that this amounts to ethnic cleansing.[27]

A report in the Daily Telegraph [28], published in October 2005, called the Arvand Free Zone a "sinister development" with

tens of thousands of ethnic Ahwazi Arabs, who populate the area bordering southern Iraq, ... expected to be displaced to make way for an expanded military-industrial complex. The British Ahwazi Friendship Society (BAFS), an advocacy group for Khuzestani Arabs in the UK, claims it will help Iran's Revolutionary Guards to influence the Shi'a areas of Iraq. A BAFS spokesman said: "Apart from being a serious human rights issue, any development that involves people being displaced by force obviously has a security element to it as they clearly do not want people being too near. The fact that they are deciding to put this huge complex right up against the border is significant. We think this is to enable them to train and send militias over the border."

The Hamsahyeha newspaper in Ahvaz, which covers Khuzestan, reported that residents of Minoo Island were complaining of bullying tactics by employees of the Arvand Free Zone Organisation. Mostafa Motowarzadeh, the parliamentary representative for Khorramshahr, also said that the Iranian authorities pressing forward land acquisitions ahead of the end of the official consultation period.[29]

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Place names

Many of the towns and cities in Khuzestan had Arabic names which have since been changed to Persian names. Some Khuzestani Arabs contend that the change of place names is intended to wipe out the local Arab heritage and Persianize the province. However, some of these names have their origins in pre-Islamic Khuzestan. Arvandrud for example is mentioned in the Shahnama, and Andimeshk is the name of medieval Dezful.(E.I., p26) The following are a selection of place names that have been re-changed from Arabic back to Persian.

Ethnic politics of Khuzestan - Hezbollah

As with the rest of Iran, anti-government protests, demonstrations, and worker's strikes do occur from time to time in Khuzestan. However, unlike other provinces, the Lebanese Hezbollah, under the direct command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), are used in place of riot police to violently quell Iranian Arab dissent. The Islamic Republic, being one of the primary financiers of the Hezbollah, operates several training camps for the militant Islamist group in western Khuzestan under the jurisdiction and supervision of the IRGC. The IRGC has also been known to utilize the Hezbollah against the civilian population in other parts of Iran on occasion. Iranian journalists and observers who attempt to raise concerns regarding these activities typically risk imprisonment.