Some Iraqi Christians living in Hazar Jot village have expressed concern after the Governor of Dohuk gave permission to a Barzani family relative, Dindar Farzanda Zober, to dig a well on their land. The village is traditionally Assyrian Christian and the well digging is considered the first step of seizing their land, especially since it was reportedly done without their consent. The Barzani family is a tribe which has politically controlled northern Iraq for decades.

Related: Timeline of ISIS in Iraq
Related: Attacks on Assyrians in Syria By ISIS and Other Muslim Groups

Land grabbing is a sensitive topic in Iraq, and one of the main concerns for Christians who have long lived in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) areas. Many Assyrian Christian villages have been lost overtime because of land grabbing in this area. Most often, it first starts as building a well or home (some type of infrastructure) that is then expanded over a series of time. It effectively strangles Assyrian Christian villages, preventing them from using their land as before and forcing them to relocate. Many of the younger village members had relocated to the Nineveh Plains, but then the genocide of ISIS came and they were forced to flee.