The case of the Sabeans and the Mandaeans, whose life depends on the flow of the rivers and their survival in the country is in danger. A demographic imbalance could unleash social and political chaos and fuel conflict. The responsibility of Türkiye and Iran in the exploitation of rivers. The desertification process has reached 70% of the Iraqi territory.
Baghdad () – Drought, sandstorms, crisis in the agricultural sector: climate change hits Iraq particularly hard, a country where the desertification process has already affected 70% of the territory. However, global warming also has an impact on the demographic balance and the distribution of the population in the Arab country, especially in the Sabeans and Mandaeans, whose livelihood depends closely on the flow of rivers. More and more they are forced to migrate internally or flee abroad, modifying their population in a substantial and probably irreversible way.
Several Iraqi government agencies have recently sounded the alarm against this new threat related to global climate change (and warming), with never-before-higher temperatures and consequent dry rivers, lack of rain, and dust storms. . The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) observes that “the increase in temperatures, the lack of rain, the salinity, the succession of sand and dust storms” are “challenges” that the country must face and that could negatively affect the supply of food, water, social security and health”.
There are different factors at play, one of which is related to the demography of a country made up of different ethnic and religious groups, often in conflict with each other. Desertification and rising temperatures have led several communities to abandon rural areas and move to urban centers, because the fields are dry and unusable for planting. A paradox for ancient Mesopotamia, which in the past was considered the “fertile crescent” thanks to the course of its two main rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Those most affected by the changes are the weaker components of the population, in particular the Sabeans and Mandaeans, who have already been subjected to persecution and violence in recent decades. These two communities, in fact, are famous for the celebration of rituals -above all baptism, which has great meaning and is a pillar of worship and entrance into the community- along the banks of the rivers. Sabeans and Mandeans, experts explain, are closely related to rivers -their rituals are celebrated and are connected to fresh water- but these are in continuous regression, forcing populations to migrate.
The emergency also extends to the swamplands of southern Iraq, which are considered some of the most important in all of Western Asia (and the Middle East) in terms of habitat and biodiversity, as well as being a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Experts have called on government authorities to take action in the face of an emergency that is both climatic, demographic, environmental and social, in addition to having a strong impact on the economy. At the same time, they also make a call to the communities themselves, starting with the Sabeans and the Mandaeans, who are the first to find ways to “adapt” to an evolving reality and seek new internal spaces that allow relocation, safeguarding in the their cults and traditions as much as possible.
Finally, on the international front, a claim has been made to neighboring countries such as Turkey and Iran, whose policies have a strong impact on Iraq’s water resources. Pressure and intervention on the governments of Tehran (which is also dealing with a “water war” with Afghanistan) and Ankara are sorely needed to increase water release and stop building new dams, already numbering dozens along the way. along the rivers but do not take into account the balance between the different needs. After all, the demographic balance is functional to the political and social balance, and this alteration will end up generating -or feeding- chaos in the region, with new wars and migrations.
