Kurdistan Region supports ‘voluntary’ return of IDPs: President Nechirvan Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region supports a “voluntary return” of Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes, the region’s president, Nechirvan Barzani, said on Wednesday during a meeting with a top United Nations envoy to Iraq.

President Barzani’s remarks came during a meeting with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), in Erbil on Wednesday, in which the two discussed a range of topics, including the Sinjar Agreement, the return of IDPs, the Iraqi elections, and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency’s office.

The Iraqi government has decided to close down IDP camps across the country, sending displaced Iraqis to their homes. The decision has been criticized by aid groups, fearing a “hasty return” would further expose the already vulnerable population to the upcoming harsh winter conditions and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“The Kurdistan Region supports a voluntary return of IDPs,” stationed in the autonomous region, President Barzani said during the meeting with the UN envoy.

The Kurdistan Region is home to over one million refugees and IDPs, where they are stationed inside host communities and camps. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) along with international and local aid groups provide basic services, including electricity, health care, education, and security.

“Providing the basic services have [been] a huge cost on the Kurdistan Region,” President Barzani said. Hennis-Plasschaert and Barzani reiterated that “grounds must be paved for the IDPs voluntary return,” the statement said.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced that so far, his cabinet has closed down nearly 45 IDP camps since August 2019.

Another aspect of the meeting was about the Sinjar Agreement, struck between Erbil and Baghdad in early October to normalize the administrative and security situation in the mainly-majority Yezidi town, particularly by handing its internal security to the indigenous population of the area.

Both sides decided that the “important agreement” needs cooperation and assistance to be implemented, the statement said.

High-level Kurdistan Region officials received their federal Iraqi counterparts and the top United Nations envoy to Iraq in Erbil on Tuesday as part of efforts to finalize the implementation of a recent joint security agreement between the two in the embattled district of Sinjar (Shingal).

Read More:  Iraqi officials, UN envoy in Erbil to finalize plan for Sinjar agreement

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany