Displaced Iraqis Face Eviction

Mujahideen Khalq Iran (MEK) is an organization that was established in 1965 by educated Iranians after the fall of the Shah government. In the year 1979 the Islamic Revolution Movement (IRM) became the ruling government of the country. IRM executed many leaders of MEK inside Iran, and the conflict between the Iranian government and MEK became worse. By the year 1980, many of MEK’s members were executed and the remaining members of the organization were lead by Mas’od and Merriam Rajaowi.

In 1980 MEK moved outside of Iran to surrounding countries, such as Iraq, in an attempt to fight back against the Iranian government. In Iraq, they established a military base in Diyala (north of Baghdad) and seized some buildings as offices.

After the fall of Baghdad, MEK was afraid of being removed from Iraq or labeled as a terrorist organization. They left all the buildings and the places used during Saddam Hussein’s rule, and consolidated in Diyala. Families from all over Iraq moved into the vacated buildings to flee death and violence from the war.

MEK has since been recognized as not being a terrorist organization, and wants to return to their buildings in order to reopen their offices again. However, the current Iraqi government did not approve the removal of families occupying the buildings, and there is no clear sign that the families will be moved out.
Alive in Baghdad