Over 100 Iraqi IDPs return to liberated areas in Anbar: Ministry

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Over the past few days, 129 displaced Iraqis have returned to their liberated homes in the country’s Western province of Anbar, the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration announced on Sunday.

In a statement released by the Ministry, it noted the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) had voluntarily returned to their homes in Qaim city, located on the border with Syria across from Albukamal.

Years ago, they were resettled in the camps of Amiriyah Fallujah. They were sent back as part of the voluntary return program managed by the Ministry, in coordination with the Ministry of Transport and security forces in Anbar.

Following the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq in 2014, over six million Iraqis were displaced in the country.

After the military defeat of the jihadist group, the number of IDPs has since dropped to below two million, 1.2 million of which are still in the autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north.

Many Iraqi IDPs refuse to return to their areas, however, due to security concerns and the lack of basic services in those areas.

Over the past year, the Islamic State has carried out insurgency attacks, kidnappings, and ambushes in territory it once held despite Iraq declaring victory against the jihadist group in December 2017.

Editing by Nadia Riva