2.2.2 The Property Restitution Law

2.2.2 The Property Restitution Law

The Property Restitution Law mandates the return of approximately 300 000 dunams (300 square kilometres) of land507 confiscated during the Baath regime to their original owners ‘within two months’.508 The law responds primarily to longstanding demands from the Kurdish community and other minorities, such as Turkmen, who were dispossessed under Saddam Hussein’s rule.509 Although the law does not explicitly mention specific groups or regions, its implementation has focused largely on disputed areas like Kirkuk, a zone of particular concern for Kurdish claims.510 This has triggered tensions, as ISF reportedly prevented Kurdish farmers from cultivating lands despite legal recognition of their property rights. The narrow application of the law has also sparked dissent among other communities, especially from central and southern Iraq, whose confiscated lands were not addressed, raising concerns about unequal restitution and potential for further intercommunal tensions.511