Iraq accelerating return of displaced in plan to 'close the file' in 2020

The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement announced on Friday that a new batch of displaced civilians in four provinces has been returned to their places of origin as part of the government's stepped-up efforts to close the camps before the end of 2020.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Migration and Displacement announced on Friday that a new batch of displaced civilians in four provinces has been returned to their places of origin as part of the government's stepped-up efforts to close the camps before the end of 2020.

More than five million Iraqis were displaced as a result of the 2014 rise of the Islamic State in Iraq to other areas within the country, the Kurdistan Region, and neighboring nations.

Following the territorial defeat of the extremist group in Iraq in late 2017, the Iraqi government has sought to return them to their hometowns, many of which have been reduced to rubble or have little to no infrastructure or public services. Multiple international organizations including the UN have loudly voiced concerns that many of their areas are also still extremely unsafe.

Migration and Displacement Minister Evan Faiq said in a statement that 3,127 displaced persons from camps in Kirkuk, Khanaqin, Nineveh Plain, and Salahuddin have returned today to their former homes within the provinces of Diyala, Nineveh, Salahuddin, and Anbar.

“Those returning to their homes constitute a new batch of displaced persons wishing to return within the emergency returnee plan organized by the Ministry of Migration and Displacement," Faiq said.

Various European humanitarian organizations in mid-November criticized Iraq’s decision to close down displacement camps, arguing that it would endanger hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians.

Read More: European organizations criticize Iraq’s plan to close displacement camps

Iraq says that the country needs $100 billion in international funds to rebuild these areas in light of the financial crisis that has erupted due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting decline in oil prices.

The Iraqi government claims that it is implementing a return program that is strictly voluntary, but human rights organizations have presented evidence to the contrary on several occasions. 

Roughly a million people are still displaced, most of them in camps or within the cities of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, according to the latest statistics.

In late October, the United Nations announced the Iraqi government’s decision to close the camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) by the end of 2020 was made by the federal government in Baghdad “independently.”

Read More: UN: Baghdad 'independently' decided to shutter all IDP camps by end of 2020

Faiq concluded, "The government program confirms the need to close the file of the displaced, which makes us work in parallel with the government program and return those who wish to return to their areas as soon as possible."

Editing by John J. Catherine