On April 4th, 1980, Saddam Hussein's government initiated a mass deportation of Iraqi citizens to Iran. In total, an estimated one million people were deported between 1980 and 1990. At the same time, thousands of the relatives of these deportees were detained as hostages, an estimated 4,000 of whom are still missing. This is considered the first Anfal operation undertaken by the Baʿthist regime against the Kurds.