South Korea provides winter items to IDPs and refugees in Kurdistan Region

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Minister of the Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Reber Ahmed, on Monday announced that the Republic of Korea will provide winter necessities worth some $300,000 to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees now residing in the Kurdistan Region.

Minister of Interior Ahmed, in a twitter post, made the announcement following a meeting with the Korean Consul General Choi Kwang-Jin in Erbil, where they signed a protocol on humanitarian assistance provided by South Korea.

“I was joined today by Mr. Choi, Consul General of Korea, to sign a protocol on humanitarian assistance donations by the Korean government,” the minister’s statement on Twitter read.

Ahmed also extended his thanks and gratitude to South Korea, stating “This is an in-kind donation that includes winterized items worth $300k for IDPs and refugees in the Kurdistan Region. Thank you Korea.”

The South Korean government has continued to provide medical assistance for supporting the IDPs and refugees in the Kurdistan Region since the outbreak of the humanitarian crisis caused by the 2014 rise of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq.

Over one million civilians who have fled their homes to escape violence and instability in recent years currently reside in the Kurdistan Region, the latest official numbers released by the KRG show.

In addition to Iraqi IDPs, the KRG also hosts “242,944 Syrian, 8,506 Turkish, 10,812 Iranian, and 688 Palestinian refugees,” a report by the KRG’s Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC) on January 12 explains.

Read more: Kurdistan still home to 1 million displaced; annual cost nearly $1 billion: KRG

The JCC is part of the KRG Ministry of Interior and is tasked with coordinating all matters related to crisis management and response in the Kurdistan Region.

After years of receiving people fleeing conflict, the Kurdistan Region remains a safe haven for 1,050,317 individuals. Supporting them costs nearly $1 billion a year, although this represents a decrease in the number of displaced individuals compared to a year ago and the funds required to provide for their support.

Last year, the KRG’s JCC report showed that the Kurdistan Region hosted a total of 1,509,373 refugees and IDPs, costing nearly $2 billion.

Editing by Laurie Mylroie