Iraq launches its first national census in nearly four decades

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades Wednesday, a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict and political divisions.

The act of counting the population is also contentious. The census is expected to have profound implications for Iraq’s resource distribution, budget allocations and development planning.

Minority groups fear that a documented decline in their numbers will bring decreased political influence and fewer economic benefits in the country’s sectarian power-sharing system.

The count in territories such as Kirkuk, Diyala and Mosul -- where control is disputed between the central government in Baghdad and the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government in the north -- has drawn intense scrutiny.

Ali Arian Saleh, the executive director of the census at the Ministry of Planning, said agreements on how to conduct the count in the disputed areas were reached in meetings involving Iraq’s prime minister, president and senior officials from the Kurdish region.

“Researchers from all major ethnic groups — Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Christians — will conduct the census in these areas to ensure fairness,” he said.

The last nationwide census in Iraq was held in 1987. Another one held in 1997 excluded the Kurdish region.

The new census “charts a developmental map for the future and sends a message of stability,” Planning Minister Mohammed Tamim said in a televised address.

The census will be the first to employ advanced technologies for gathering and analyzing data, providing a comprehensive picture of Iraq’s demographic, social, and economic landscape, offiials say. Some 120,000 census workers will survey households across the country, covering approximately 160 housing units each over two days.

The Interior Ministry announced a nationwide curfew during the census period, restricting movement of citizens, vehicles and trains between cities, districts and rural areas, with exceptions for humanitarian cases.

The count will be carried out using the “de jure” method, in which people are counted in their usual area of residence, Saleh said.

That means that people internally displaced by years of war will be counted in the areas where they have since settled, not in their original communities. The census will not include Iraqis residing abroad or those forcibly displaced to other countries.

Saleh estimated Iraq’s population at 44.5 million and said the Kurdish region’s share of the national budget — currently 12% — is based on an estimated population of 6 million. The census will also clarify the number of public employees in the region.

By order of Iraq’s federal court, the census excluded questions about ethnicity and sectarian affiliation, focusing solely on broad religious categories such as Muslim and Christian.

“This approach is intended to prevent tensions and ensure the census serves developmental rather than divisive goals,” Saleh said. The census will be monitored by international observers who will travel across Iraq’s provinces to assess the data quality, he said.

Hogr Chato, director of the Irbil-based Public Aid Organization, said the census will reshape the map of political thinking and future decision making.

“Even though some leaders deny it, the data will inevitably have political and economic implications,” he said. “It’s also fair to allocate budgets based on population numbers, as areas with larger populations or those impacted by war need more resources.”

Chato said he believes the delays in conducting the census were not only due to security concerns but also political considerations. “There was data they didn’t want to make public, such as poverty levels in each governorate,” he said.

Ahead of the census, leaders in Iraq’s various communities urged people to be counted.

In Baghdad’s Adhamiyah district, Abdul Wahhab al-Samarrai, preacher at Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque, urged citizens to cooperate with the census.

“This is a duty for every Muslim to ensure the rights of future generations,” he said in a Friday sermon the week before the count.

Martany reported from Irbil, Iraq.

A worker prepares to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A worker prepares to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Workers prepare to collect information from the public as Iraq began its first nationwide population census in decades, in Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

People browse through books displayed during the annual book festival in Abu Nawas street in central Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Nov.16, 2024. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

TORUN, Poland (AP) — The mother of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is boycotting the world premiere of “Rust” at a film festival in Poland on Wednesday, saying she views it as an attempt by Alec Baldwin to “unjustly profit” from her daughter’s death.

The Western is premiering at the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage in the city of Torun three years after Hutchins was shot accidentally on set.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.

Souza was expected to introduce the film at the festival, a popular industry event dedicated to the art of cinematography, and the premiere was being dedicated to Hutchins.

“It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen," said Hutchins’ mother Olga Solovey in a statement issued by her lawyer and carried by Britain’s national news agency, PA.

“Unfortunately, that was ripped away from me when Alec Baldwin discharged his gun and killed my daughter," she said. “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death. Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter.”

“That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of Rust, especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter," she added.

Hutchins, 42, was a Ukrainian cinematographer on the rise and a mother of a young son when she was killed. She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentary films in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising movie-making career.

A New Mexico judge dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in the fatal shooting. But while the threat of criminal liability was lifted, he is facing other civil lawsuits, including one by Solovey.

The film armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, received the maximum sentence of 18 months in jail for involuntary manslaughter. A New Mexico judge found earlier this year that her recklessness amounted to a serious violent offense. Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the set of “Rust,” where it was expressly prohibited, and for failing to follow basic gun-safety protocols.

This year's Cameraimage festival, where Cate Blanchett is serving as jury president, has already been beset by controversy.

“Blitz” director Steve McQueen dropped out of the festival to protest an editorial about female cinematographers written by festival founder Marek Żydowicz that McQueen viewed as sexist. Director Coralie Fargeat also pulled her film “The Substance” from the festival due to the comments. Żydowicz has since apologized.

FILE - A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, N.M.,Oct. 23, 2021. . (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)