KRG UNHCR Coordinator calls for international aid

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Coordinator Jozef Merkx stated on Tuesday that the people of Kurdistan have been extremely generous in welcoming nearly two million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Merkx has been in charge of UNHCR coordination with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) since October 2014, and his appointment coincided with the unprecedented influx of IDPs to Kurdistan Region.

In an interview with KRG Department of Foreign Relations (DFR), he explained that UNHCR works closely with the KRG at all levels, and in particular with the Ministers of Foreign Relations, Planning, Interior, Health, and Education.

Merkx additionally praised the KRG’s tolerance for keeping its borders open to refugees and IDPs since 2013.

“We all know that Kurdistan Region has been very generous in receiving such a large number of Syrian refugees and IDPs [in 2013 and 2014 respectively],” he said.

Stressing its particular needs, the UNHCR coordinator mentioned that the organization initially faced many challenges due to a lack of funding.

“We have [over] 250,000 Syrian refugees that have been here for a few years, and we have [more] work with the IDPs coming from other parts of Iraq like Ninevah and Ramadi. There are more than 1.1 million IDPs [in Kurdistan Region],” he stated.

Pressing financial situations has rendered the KRG unable to pay civil servants salaries for several months. The Federal Government in Baghdad stopped paying KRG’s 17 percent budget share since early 2014, around the same time the majority of IDPs headed to the Region.

The expenses of the war against Islamic State (IS), the influx of refugees and IDPs, and a drop in global oil prices have exacerbated the KRG’s financial challenges.

Merkx acknowledged that KRG needs international assistance to improve the situation of the refugees and IDPs and explained that countries like Germany, Japan, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, and the United States were active supporters of the UNHCR projects, despite their struggle for fundraising at the beginning of every year.

He argued that if the international community did not provide necessary support to sustain refugees and IDPs in Kurdistan Region, the world would witness continued emigration to Europe.

Reporting by Ehsan Mamakani
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany and Benjamin Kweskin