Kurdish Officials Seize 1,500 Dunams of Land in Iraqi Christian Village of Bakhetme

Kurdish Officials Seize 1,500 Dunams of Land in Iraqi Christian Village of Bakhetme.

Bakhetme is an ancient Iraqi Christian village located in the Dohuk Governorate of northern Iraq, home to generations of Christian families predating modern borders and regional authorities.

1,500 dunams is equivalent to 370 acres, which is the size of 210 soccer fields. The land was cultivated, owned, and passed down by Christian families for generations.

According to Christian organizations in Iraq, Kurdish authorities plan to redistribute the land as residential plots to Peshmerga members and loyal Kurdish government employees.

In 1983, the former Iraqi regime forcibly seized Bakhetme’s farmland and converted it into a military camp.

After the fall of the Ba’athist regime in Iraq, Christians returned and resumed farming, but the land was reclassified under Kurdish rule, left in legal dispute for decades.

To many Iraqi Christians, including Chaldeans, Kurdish land seizures are a common occurrence, forcing ancient Christian villages towards extinction.