For the minorities impacted by ISIL this will not be enough after all they have gone through. Therefore, the Iraqi government must empower these minorities by creating minority protection units within the Iraqi security forces to allow them to protect themselves while Iraqi soldiers guard Iraq’s borders and the outer boundaries of Nineveh, Salah al-Din and the other provinces that neighbour Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The KRG can claim disputed territories all they want; their region is under Iraqi sovereignty until they actually secede. Until then, they must not defy the first article of the constitution or prevent the empowerment of other communities in Iraq.

While both Baghdad and KRG failed to protect minorities, the Iraqi constitution protects the identity of minorities such as Yezidis and Assyrians. The KRG has taken an identical approach to that of Saddam’s Arabization through Kurdification. Alongside ensuring foreign forces like ISIL can never invade Iraq again, cultural genocide like Arabization or Kurdification must not be tolerated in Iraq either. After liberating all of Iraq from ISIL, Baghdad must work with its minorities, empower them and truly protect them.

As for the KRG, they continue to be dependent on Baghdad for support, so minorities within disputed territories will hesitate to seek patronage with the KRG. Kirkuk’s governor is finding that the hard way as he is now trying to cut out the middle man (KRG) after receiving less for his province’s petrodollar shares through illegal KRG oil sales than under Iraq’s federal oil sales.

The KRG may continue to put up a fight over disputed areas but that is no excuse for Baghdad to not uphold its duty as the sovereign capital of Iraq to protect all Iraqis. The KRG is at its weakest point now and while they may be able to put up a better fight with regards to oil sales, disputed areas must no longer be a fight it has with the KRG. If there is need for any evidence of what it is like to be a newly established province under the KRG, just look at Halabja. No improvements whatsoever since declaring themselves as a province under the KRG. Iraq’s minority leaders have expressed themselves across many capital cities across the West, wanting help to establish autonomous regions to govern themselves.

Iraq must not allow itself to fragment like the former Yugoslavia but it can become a true federalist state by establishing provinces for these communities. For example, in addition to a province in Sinjar for the Yezidis and Nineveh Plains for Assyrians, a province for Turkmens in Tal Afar which would be a bigger province than the province of Duhok established in 1991. These provinces would be more appropriate than autonomous regions as Yezidis, Assyrians and Turkmen do not only live in cities and towns like Sinjar and Tal Afar but across multiple provinces. Autonomous regions will restrict minorities from outside these areas if autonomous regions are established just like how the Kurdistan Region has divided Kurds living in southern Iraq from those living in the Kurdistan Region.

The focus has been on the war effort but the brave Iraqi soldiers are taking care of that very well, it is only a matter of time before all of Iraq is liberated from ISIL. What happens afterwards must be discussed now and an important aspect of post-ISIL Iraq is the minorities of Iraq. They must no longer be neglected and that begins by working with them to ensure that they can protect and govern themselves. In addition, there must be a greater effort in Iraqi education of all Iraq’s minorities so we no longer run into the ignorance and chaos of today. A big part of what makes Iraq unique in the Middle East is its diversity that must be taught, promoted and protected. There is no excuse to hear Iraqi minority leaders pleading to foreign governments while the Iraqi state remains ignorant or unbothered by what happens to its people.

Seeing fellow Iraqis who are from minority backgrounds in the north suffer and plead to foreign governments for help hurts no less than seeing fellow Iraqis of the same background as me fall victim to cowardly terrorist attacks in my city of origin, Baghdad.