Over 200 Iraqi refugees leave Turkey for east Mosul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Ministry of Displacement and Migration of Iraq announced on Friday that they repatriated 231 Iraqi refugees from Turkey to the liberated areas in Mosul.

Following the emergence of the Islamic State (IS) in northern Iraq in June 2014, hundreds of thousands of people sought refuge the Kurdistan Region and some migrated abroad.

In a statement, the Ministry of Displacement and Migration mentioned that the repatriated Iraqi people had returned to their homes in eastern Mosul, an area that the Iraqi forces liberated in late Jan. 2017.

According to the Ministry, Iraqis returned home voluntarily in coordination with the Embassy of Iraq in Ankara and migration ministries of both countries.

The Ministry transferred the Iraqi migrants from different cities, including Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Ankara, Gaziantep, Sakarya, Eskishehr, and Kirshehir to east Mosul via six buses, the statement added.

It also mentioned that the Ministry would continue to bring back the displaced people to their liberated towns and cities through its committees formed for Salahaddin, Anbar and Nineveh provinces.

The military operation to retake the western part of Mosul is ongoing, the self-proclaimed capital of the IS.

Official statistics show that about four million Iraqi people have been displaced inside the country, over one million of whom have moved to the Kurdistan Region.

Editing by Ava Homa