Iraq: Marsh Arabs
5 minutes, 2004
Ref: 393

For years the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq were seen as the main resistance to Saddam Hussein. Now, with the arrival of the US & British forces they finally have their freedom. Saddam bled the Marshes dry in the 1980s and 90s in a bid to flush out Shia rebels. Now 40% of the marshes have been re-flooded, but many of the former residents have moved to the city where they have schools and electricity and have no desire to return to a way of life that they left behind many years ago. We travelled to the Marshes to see if it’s possible for these people to once again recapture their ancient way of life. They're an ancient Iraqi people who have lived off the country's wetlands for centuries. But under Saddam Hussein, the marsh Arabs and their livelihood were all but wiped out. The marshlands cover 20,000 square kilometres of southeastern Iraq where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet.