Bavarian minister praises Kurdistan for welcoming IDPs, fighting IS
Merk stated in a press conference that she has visited the Kurdistan Region to show appreciation for a government that while fighting IS and dealing with financial crisis, has not turned its back to such a large number of refugees and IDPs.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Bavarian official said on Thursday that she visited Kurdistan Region to thank the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for hosting a large number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) while fighting the Islamic State (IS) insurgents.
KRG Health Minister Rekawt Rashid met Germany’s Bavaria Minister of European Affairs and International Relations Beate Merk in Erbil.
Following the meeting, Merk stated in a press conference that she has visited the Kurdistan Region to show appreciation for a government that while fighting IS and dealing with financial crisis, has not rejected such a large number of refugees and IDPs.
Kurdistan Region is home to almost two million refugees and IDPs who have mostly fled other parts of Iraq to the Region due to the jihadist’s threat.
She mentioned that aiding the refugees and IDPs cannot be done by one country alone, and needs cooperation and assistance provided by the international community.
“I came here [Kurdistan Region] to witness the situation of IDPs in the Region and see how Bavaria can contribute to aiding them. KRG has provided them basic needs and good services,” Merk said.
KRG has planned to send doctors to Germany for special training in treating wounded Peshmerga soldiers who fight IS on the Kurdistan Region border on over 1,000 kilometers (600 miles).
In another part of the press conference, Rashid explained that they gave a list of requests to the Bavarian’s minister, highlighting the Health Ministry’s needs in the current situation.
“We have asked for financial support to pay the salaries of Kurdistan doctors and Ministry’s employees as they continuously serve Peshmerga,” he said.
Kurdistan Region is heavily suffering from a financial crisis following the cut of federal budget share from Baghdad since 2014 and the international drop in oil prices.
Rashid mentioned that the Ministry has asked Bavaria to provide medicines and medical supplies to complete the unfinished projects which are necessary such as hospitals with proper emergency wards.
He stated that many areas have been liberated from IS by Peshmerga forces, but displaced people do not return to their homes due to lack of public services that hospitals are one of them. According to Rashid, the city of Sinjar (Shingal) is one of those territories.
Another request was sending the heavily wounded Peshmerga soldiers to Bavaria to receive proper medical treatments as their wounds sometimes cannot be treated in the Kurdistan Region due to the limited technology and insufficient medical expertise.
According to Peshmerga Ministry, since the emergence of IS in Iraq in June 2014 until now, "around 1,500 Peshmerga have been martyred and over 8,600 were injured in the fights against the jihadists."
Editing by Ava Homa
(Afsana Shamohamadi contributed to this report)