Iraq: 1) Information on the current status of a 1984 law which requires Iraqi men who are married to women of Iranian origin or descent to divorce their wives 2) Information on whether any actions have been taken against these Iraqi men (known as Tabba'iyya) or their families to make them comply with the law or to punish them for failure to divorce 3) Information on the possible penalty for non-compliance with the law
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1992 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRQ10751 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iraq: 1) Information on the current status of a 1984 law which requires Iraqi men who are married to women of Iranian origin or descent to divorce their wives 2) Information on whether any actions have been taken against these Iraqi men (known as Tabba'iyya) or their families to make them comply with the law or to punish them for failure to divorce 3) Information on the possible penalty for non-compliance with the law, 1 April 1992, IRQ10751, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac0220.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A secretary at the Embassy of Iraq in Ottawa states that there has not been any law in Iraq which compels Iraqi men to divorce their Iraqi wives of Iranian descent (29 Apr. 1992).
A representative of the Arab League in Ottawa provided the following information on the above subjects during a telephone interview on 29 April 1992.
During the Iran-Iraq War, the government of Iraq pressured those Iraqis whose spouses were Iraqis of Iranian descent to divorce their spouses. The pressure was especially severe on female Iraqis to decide whether they wished to divorce their Iranian husbands and live in Iraq, or whether they preferred to leave for Iran with their Iranian husbands. Male Iraqis with wives of Iranian descent could still live in Iraq, but there were also pressures on them to divorce their wives. The representative was unable to state whether there had been a specific punishment for non-compliance with the request of the government of Iraq.
While not directly related to the above subjects, the following information may be noteworthy. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984 refers to the ill-treatment of Iraqis of Iranian descent. Accordingly,
[o]ver 30,000 Iranians and Iraqis of alleged Iranian descent were summarily expelled to Iran in April 1980 and tens of thousands more were reported expelled subsequently. While such deportations have ceased, those remaining live under the fear of deportation or incarceration.... Citizens considered to be of Iranian origin bear special identification, often precluding desirable employment or impeding advancement (1985, 1250).
Amnesty International also reports on the ill-treatment of Iraqis of Iranian origin during the Iran-Iraq War. In its 1984 report, for instance, it maintains that:
[a] continuing concern throughout 1983 was the fate of several hundred civilians of Iranian origin including children, women and old people, who had been held in prisoner of war camps since the beginning of the Iran-Iraq [W]ar in 1980. Amnesty International was concerned that they may have been held solely on the basis of their ethnic origin and without legal proceedings. In May 1983 the International Committee of the Red Cross stated publicly that several hundred such prisoners had been "concealed" from its delegates and that among those it visited "ill-treatment has frequently been observed" (1984, 339).
While not specifically referring to Iraqi women of Iranian origin or descent, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1990 provides information on a requirement of the government of Iraq according to which "[n]on-Iraqi spouses of Iraqi citizens who have resided in Iraq for 5 years are required to take Iraqi nationality or leave Iraq" (1991, 1463). The reports also refers to a 1984 order of the Revolutionary Command Council of Iraq which reduced the residency period for the non-Iraqi spouses of "Iraqi citizens employed in government offices" to one year (Ibid.). According to the report, the Iraqi spouses of these non-Iraqis may face penalties for non-compliance "including loss of job, a fine of approximately [US] $10,000, and repayment of the costs of education" (Ibid.).
Additional and/or corroborating information on these subjects is currently unavailable to the IRBDC.
References
Arab League, Ottawa. 29 April 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.
Amnesty International. 1984. Amnesty International Report 1984. London: Amnesty International.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1990. 1991. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1984. 1985. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Embassy of Iraq, Ottawa. 29 April 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.