36,000 IDPs moved to Kurdistan since Mosul battle began: JCC

The Kurdistan Region Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC) on Monday stated over 36,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) moved to the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of the Mosul operation in mid-October.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region Joint Crisis Coordination Center (JCC) on Monday stated over 36,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) moved to the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of the Mosul operation in mid-October.

In a statement, the JCC mentioned over 1,000 people move from Mosul to Kurdistan on a daily basis, and so far nearly 36,609 IDPs moved to the Region since Oct. 17.

The number makes up 78 percent of the total IDPs who moved from Mosul since the beginning of the battle.

Additionally, the statement mentioned that when the IDPs arrive at Peshmerga front lines, they are transferred to camps, including Khazir, Hassan Sham, and Zelkan.

The Kurdistan Region is home to nearly 1.8 million IDPs and refugees who fled from Iraq and Syria due to the threat of the Islamic State (IS).

The statement also indicated 40 percent of Iraqi IDPs and 97 percent of Syrian refugees in Iraq were living in Kurdistan.

The JCC explained that although large swaths of territories have been liberated by Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, IDPs cannot return to their homes due to the destruction of the area, booby-traps, and lack of basic services, security, and financial support.

The Center also called for the creation of more camps to accommodate the new IDPs coming mostly from Mosul and areas around the city.

According to the JCC, the current camps are no longer capable of supplying the displaced with basic needs such as oil, clothes, blankets, and hospitals as the Region heads into the winter season.

The JCC called on the international community to provide more humanitarian aid to the IDPs, especially daily meals and children’s food as more and more people are displaced to Kurdistan.

In June 2014, IS controlled Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, and shortly expanded to other provinces in the country.

Since then, the insurgent group has lost most of the territory it once controlled and continues to shrink.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany