Kurdistan PM calls for international support to facilitate return of IDPs, refugees

"We remind the world however that international assistance remains essential to their safe return home."

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Marking World Refugee Day, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani reiterated his government's commitment to safeguarding internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees and called for support from the international community to facilitate their return.

"Kurdistan is a safe haven for refugees, and we will continue to care for the 1.1 million refugees and IDPs who are here from Iraq and Syria," Prime Minister Barzani said in a tweet on Saturday.

"We remind the world however that international assistance remains essential to their safe return home."

A United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report on Thursday explained that, at the end of 2019, there were 79.9 million refugees and IDPs worldwide. It also stated that the ability of the displaced peoples to return to their homes was decreasing by the day.

According to the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC), there are around 800,000 displaced individuals and 265,000 refugees who live within the Kurdistan Region. KRG spends $78 million monthly to provide various services and aid needed by the facilities in which the close to 1,1 million people reside.

The data from JCC also indicates that out of the 265,000 refugees, 245,000 are from Syria. The other 20,000 are from Turkey, Iran, and Palestine. About 40 percent of the total live in ten camps: five in Duhok, four in Erbil, and one in Sulaimani province, while the other 60 percent live in host communities.

Editing by Khrush Najari