Al-Qahtaniya (Tal Uzair) sub-district municipality, the first administrative unit in Shingal district of Ninewa Province, has begun registering citizens' houses and issuing title deeds based on a decision by the Iraqi government, after a hiatus of fifty years.
On Monday, April 14, the Al-Qahtaniya municipality completed the issuance of title deeds for 625 homes to residents of the sub-district, paving the way for their ownership.
Khaled Murad built his house about 50 years ago without receiving a title deed from the government. He was among the first to receive the title deed and is scheduled to visit the municipality within days to complete the ownership process after paying a fee of 38,000 Iraqi dinars IQD (USD23).
"My home is 450 square meters. I have always feared it would be seized or demolished by the government. From today, I will be able to live in it without worry," Murad cheered.
"I completed my transactions on the first day of the process, and I intend to visit the municipality and the Real Estate Registration Department to receive the title deeds. They charge a small fee, which is in the interest of the people of Shingal."
On January 13, 2025, the Iraqi government decided to grant ownership of residential encroachments in all Iraqi provinces to their residents, with the exception of Kirkuk and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI. The majority of houses in Shingal are not included in the encroachments, but they lack title deeds.
Al-Qahtaniyah became the first sub-district in Nineveh province to begin enforcing the decision. The number of houses scheduled to be granted ownership in Al-Qahtaniyah is approximately 4,000, while the number in Shingal as a whole is 10,000.
The war-torn Shingal, located 120 km west of Mosul, center of Nineveh province, is home to over 100,000 adherents of the Ezidi ethno-religious community, and one of the disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil. Ezidis reside in Shekhan, Bashiqa, and other areas in Duhok Northern Province.
In 2014, the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seized vast territories in northern Iraq. Employing violent tactics, ISIS systematically targeted local ethnic and religious minorities—most notably Ezidis and Christians—in a brutal campaign to obliterate communities whose beliefs opposed its extremist ideology.
Kamal Sharo, head of Shingal Municipality, told KirkukNow, "The process will initially include the municipalities of Al-Qahtaniyah, Sinuny, and Shingal Center... We will continue working until all those who meet the conditions receive the title deeds."
The decision, according to the mayor of Shingal, includes houses within the aforementioned municipal boundaries that were built during the Baath regime ruling for villagers who were displaced and forced to live there without being given ownership.
Regarding homes built after the fall of the Baath regime in 2003, Kamal Sharo said, "We have not received any instructions regarding them yet."
The government was supposed to collect a fee of 20,000 IQD per square meter from citizens who were given ownership of their homes, but the decision was amended to benefit the residents of Shingal district, and the fee was reduced.
"This decision was very positive, and it will be an incentive for the return of the displaced who still reside in camps in the Kurdistan Region," Sharo added.
