In the Field: Addressing Property Rights for Displaced Iraqis

n Amman, Jordan, USIP and the World Bank partnered for a July 2008 workshop on property issues for Iraqis who were displaced since 2003 and now seek to return to their homes.

Twenty percent of Iraqis are estimated to have been displaced from their homes, the vast majority since 2003. While the displacement itself is a massive humanitarian crisis, the prospect of some five million Iraqis trying to return to their homes—many of them occupied by others, in unsafe neighborhoods, or destroyed—is a significant challenge. The government of Iraq has identified the need to ensure that property rights are protected and a fair and a peaceful means of resolving property disputes and providing restitution is in place.

The workshop, intended to formulate Iraqi solutions to the problem, marked the first full-fledged discussion of the issue. It provided an opportunity for Iraqi governmental and non-governmental officials to engage with international experts to examine the national legal framework and institutional approaches to property disputes.

Participants discussed a number of scenarios, including returning families discovering occupants in their houses, learning that their houses had been sold or rented, or finding that their homes had been destroyed.

According to lead conference organizer Deborah Isser, the event highlighted USIP’s unique position related to Iraq. “Our presence in Iraq, combined with our knowledge of international experience with mass property claims, allowed us to create a very productive forum to consider concrete solutions,” she said.

Isser highlighted the role of informal local councils, comprised of Sunnis and Shia, which aim to settle property disputes on a neighborhood level. “Just applying a pure legal framework on these issues is not sufficient,” she said, underscoring the importance of a practical, needs-based approach.

Participants included:

• Iraqi officials from the Judiciary, Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the Presidency, and ministries of Migration, Justice, Planning, and Human Rights
• Representatives from Baghdad University, the Iraqi Bar Association and the Iraqi Red Crescent
• Representatives of the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and UN-Habitat