Photo By Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Smith | Displaced Iraqis line up in Saydiyah to fill out paperwork to return to their homes,...... read more read more
By Sgt. Ryan Hudziak
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad
BAGHDAD – Saydiyah, on the southern side of Baghdad, is in the process of restoring their community into what it once was—an economically-thriving neighborhood where different religious beliefs were not only tolerated but encouraged.
The neighborhood along with other areas in Baghdad, have received assistance from their immediate support council, the government of Iraq and coalition forces.
Until recently, Saydiyah and its surrounding areas was a stronghold for extremists fighting for control of communities and their populations. In recent months, citizens in this area have demonstrated that they are overcoming their fear of these groups by using tip lines to report locations of weapon caches and the whereabouts of terrorist networks.
Families, who were displaced from this community more than two years ago when the violence began, are finally able to begin the process that will allow them to move back to their homes.
Abbass Al Qaysi, a Neighborhood Advisory Council member, said, "Two-thousand former residents with hopes of returning to their homes filled out applications this past weekend."
Support councils organized within communities in the Baghdad area, have contacted the people now that it is safer to come back to their community and have taken steps to ensure their safety. Key leaders within these communities are hoping to contact people, through their families, that fled the country.
Within the community of Saydiyah, there are approximately 5,000 homes but it is said a large percentage of them are currently occupied by people illegally. The support councils plan to carefully displace the people currently living in the homes illegally, in an outward spiral towards homes in surrounding communities until everyone is settled.
"The people who own houses that are not occupied by other people illegally will be able to move back to their homes first," said Waleed Khalid, NAC member and Saydiyah Support Council Vice President. "At the same time, the people who are living within Saydiyah illegally will be assisted by support councils to help them find available homes in the surrounding areas. As families move out, the families who legally own the houses will be allowed to move in."
The process will be time consuming, because of goals not to overlook any families ensuring everyone has a home to live in. At the same time, security is always an important issue to the organizations in charge of this process, as well as the people who are moving back to their homes. Everyone, along with their cars and belongings, will have to be searched throughout the move in process.
Khalid said that the process could take anywhere between two and six months.
Within that time, efforts have been made to improve the neighborhood's economic outlook.
Within the past week, a job fair was held to hire more security forces and several workers for the Saydiyah Service Department Organization which will consist of Maintenance, Communication, Electricity, Civil Works and Infrastructure departments.
After the resettlement process is finished, the support council plans to start the extensive rebuilding process. The community jobs will give people in the area a source of permanent income with hopes of restoring the local economy.
In the meantime, the organizations with the help of coalition forces have organized kerosene and propane distribution points for families with and without ration cards to sustain so they heat their homes and cook food for their families.
| Date Taken: | 02.16.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.16.2008 10:59 |
| Story ID: | 16421 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 303 |
| Downloads: | 290 |
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