US Deputy Assistant Secretary underlines need to implement Sinjar agreement

“They also agreed to resolve security challenges by creating a local security force and expelling the PKK."

Kurdistan 24 2022/08/04 19:36

Iraqi soldiers stand on a truck by a base in Sinjar, Iraq, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. (Photo: Ali Abdul Hassan/AP)

Iraq Sinjar Agreement Sinjar Iraq PKK PMF Jennifer Gavito Alina L Romanowski

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, Jennifer Gavito during a panel of the Free Yezidi Foundation on Wednesday for the eighth anniversary of the Yezidi genocide, stressed the need for the implementation of the Sinjar agreement and armed groups to be removed from Sinjar.

8 yrs after the genocide, recovery of the Yezidi community and all others who suffered from ISIS remains a U.S. priority. DAS Gavito spoke to a @Free_Yezidi panel on Sinjar today, stressing the need for Iraqi authorities to work with Sinjaris in implementing the Sinjar Agreement. pic.twitter.com/F6Ibm4mLO5
— U.S. State Dept - Near Eastern Affairs (@StateDept_NEA) August 3, 2022

In early October 2020, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi government with support of the UN signed the Sinjar agreement to stabilize the security and administration situation in Sinjar.

The goal would be to allow the return of thousands of Yezidi’s that continue to live in displacement camps in the Kurdistan Region, and remove armed groups from Sinjar.

“Under the agreement, the two sides agreed to resolve the absence of a local administration by appointing a new mayor and their administrative positions,” Gavito said.

“They also agreed to resolve security challenges by creating a local security force and expelling the PKK as well as other armed groups not part of the Iraqi security forces."

She also said the slow government formation is also making it more difficult to implement the Sinjar agreement.

“There is only so much a caretaker government without a new annual budget can do,” she said.

“Once the new government is in place, we're also prepared to press for funding of the local security force and for reconstruction,” she said.

Gavito also said a way should be found to expel the PKK “without causing displacement”.

1,700 families in Sinjar were displaced by fighting between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-affiliated Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) and the Iraqi army in May.

Today we join the Yezidi community in remembering those lost and the survivors of the Daesh genocide. We renew our commitment to ensure Daesh can never inflict its hateful ideology again and encourage all parties to implement the Sinjar Agreement and the Yezidi Survivors Law.
— Ambassador Alina L. Romanowski (@USAmbIraq) August 3, 2022

US Ambassador Alina L. Romanowski in a tweet on Wednesday also said the US “encourage all parties to implement the Sinjar Agreement and the Yezidi Survivors Law.”

Senior Kurdish officials have also criticized the lack of the implementation of the Sinjar agreement.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Wednesday reiterated that "outlaw groups" must leave Sinjar so its inhabitants can return safely.

Due to the lack of the implementation of the Sinjar agreement still thousands of Yezidi’s remain displaced in the Kurdistan Region.

However, during an event on Wednesday, for the 8th anniversary of the genocide committed by ISIS militants against Yezidis, Duhok Governor Dr. Ali Tatar said Kurdistan will always be a refuge for the displaced Yezidi and Christian “brothers and sisters.”