UNHCR: 3.2 million people displaced across Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations High Commissions for Refugees (UNCHR) revealed there are currently 3.2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Iraq.  

The UNHCR, in a report released on Sunday, stated that out of 5.3 million people displaced across Iraq since January 2014, only 2.2 of them have returned to their areas of origin.

According to the UNHCR report, 95 percent of the returnees have gone back to their own residences.

The report added that displaced people from the recently liberated Hawija area, notably the Zab village and al-Abbasiya sub-district in Kirkuk province, are returning to their homes. An average 100 families per day go back, but those from the city of Hawija have not yet begun to move back to their areas due to the risk of mines and explosives.

The report stated that in order to enable IDPs to return to their areas, the Iraqi the Ministry of Migration and Displacement (MoMD) had decided to give each returnee family 1.5 million IQD (roughly 1,300 USD) to support their resettlement efforts.

Meanwhile, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC), the Kurdistan Region currently hosts more than 1.3 million IDPs from Iraq and Kurdistani areas outside the KRG's administration.

Editing by Nadia Riva