Kani Balavi

Kani Balavi is a village in Duhok Governorate in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is located in the district of Amadiya and the historical region of Barwari Bala.^[a]

Kani Balavi
Village
Location in Iraq Show map of Iraq Kani Balavi (Iraqi Kurdistan) Show map of Iraqi Kurdistan
Coordinates: 37°10′41.4″N 43°11′07.3″E
Country	Iraq
Region	Kurdistan Region
Governorate	Dohuk Governorate
District	Amadiya District
Sub-district	Bamarni

In the village, there is a church of Mart Maryam.^[7]

History

Kani Balavi was inhabited by 20-30 Assyrian families in 1850.^[8] After the Assyrian genocide in the First World War, Assyrian refugees from Ashitha in Turkey settled at Kani Balavi, and the village had a population of 110 people by 1933,^[7] in which year it was looted and burned by the Iraqi army during the Simele massacre.^[9] In 1938, 20 families populated Kani Balavi.^[7] The village had a small Jewish community of several families until their departure in 1949.^[10][8]

The population increased to 190 Assyrians by the Iraqi census of 1957, and in 1961, there were 70 families in 35 houses.^[8] The village's population temporarily fled and took refuge elsewhere during the First Iraqi–Kurdish War in the 1960s, and later returned.^[11] Kani Balavi was destroyed by the Iraqi army, and its population forcibly expelled, during the Al-Anfal campaign in 1988.^[8]

15 Assyrian families returned and rebuilt Kani Balavi,^[11] but it was reported that Kurds from neighbouring villages had illegally seized the village's water sources and constructed houses on villagers' land in 1992.^[4] In early 2009, 72 displaced Assyrians, with 19 families, resided at Kani Balavi.^[12] By 2011, the Supreme Committee of Christian Affairs had constructed 39 houses, a church, and community hall, and developed the village's infrastructure.^[2]

In 2012, it was estimated that 15 Assyrians, all adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East, inhabited Kani Balavi.^[13] In August 2014, the Assyrian Church of the East Relief Organisation reported there were 45 displaced Assyrian families in the village,^[14] and the Assyrian Aid Society provided humanitarian aid in November.^[6] As of 2021, 29 Assyrians inhabit Kani Balavi.^[15]