KRG rejects HRW claims movement of refugees in Makhmour 'restricted'

The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy on Wednesday spoke out against claims by a human rights report that the government was restricting the movement of refugees in Makhmour.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy on Wednesday spoke out against claims by a human rights report that the government was restricting the movement of refugees in Makhmour.

Human Rights Watch published a report on Wednesday titled, "Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Refugees' Movements Restricted," where it claimed that the KRG put restrictions on the movement of refugees in the Makhmour displacement camp, with the majority being Kurds from Turkey.

In a statement on Wednesday, Dindar Zebari responded to the report by pointing out that "the KRG has taken measures to receive IDPs and refugees, build them shelters, and one of the security measures in place is monitoring movements inside and outside the camps. Despite this, no one was restricted from moving freely and a number of refugees are even living inside cities." 

Zebari also added "following the shooting of a Turkish consulate diplomat in Erbil, security institutions revised the security measures in place at the Makhmour camp, where 760 individuals currently inside the camp with flagged security concerns are not allowed to renew their paperwork. This is a decision by Iraqi federal government, not the KRG. This has created transportation issues for them."

Zebari mentioned that there is an informal armed group operating around and inside the camp, interfering with the camp's management.  "The KRG is not part of the Makhmour camp management and none of its security forces are present within the camp and surrounding areas."

The Kurdish official explained that "relevant authorities from the federal government are working to solve the issue of movement and transportation in the Makhmour camp," adding that in 2014, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior took over the process for the renewal of refugee residency cards for Makhmour camp. "Prior to that, they were free to move around the Kurdistan Region," Zebari noted.  

In response to claims in the HRW report that refugees are being prevented from receiving medical attention in cities of the Kurdistan Region, Zebari aasserted that "despite restrictions in the camp by relevant authorities, refugees studying inside the Kurdistan Region have total freedom of movement, and KRG authorities under no circumstances have prevented the passage of refugees who are in need of medical treatment inside the Kurdistan Region."

The number of refugees in Makhmour camp reached up to 12,000 individuals, and before 2014, it was jointly administrated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Qandil organization and Ministry of Interior's Office of Migration and Displacement. Since 2014, it has been taken over by unofficial armed militias. 
Editing by Nadia Riva