ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Marking the 33th anniversary of the Anfal genocide, the Kurdistan Region’s government reiterated a call for compensation for the survivors and their families, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Wednesday.

In a statement to commemorate the genocidal campaign in which thousands of Kurds were brutally killed, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) “demands the material and moral compensation for the survivors and families of Anfal victims from the Iraqi federal government.”

Anfal, an Arabic word for “spoils,” was the name of an eight-stage genocidal campaign carried out by the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish people in Iraq in the 1980s.

Thousands of Kurds, including women and children, from mainly the rural areas of the Kurdish region were buried alive in the desert areas of Iraq’s south while thousands of others were forced into camps. Entire villages and natural springs were destroyed, depriving the population of shelter and water.

Baghdad has so far not provided any sort of compensation for the victims, a point of conflict between the autonomous and federal governments.

Foreign diplomatic representatives based in the Kurdistan Region occasionally issue statements to commemorate the genocide. The US Consulate General in Erbil on Wednesday marked the anniversary “with great sadness,” reiterating American support for the people of the Kurdistan Region.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly