Official: KRG’s financial capabilities to receive more IDPs limited

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Joint Crisis Coordination Centre reveals the number of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and the required needs to support the displaced people in the Kurdistan Region. 

Head of the KRG’s Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) said that nearly one thousand people are displaced in west Mosul on daily basis, a large number of the IDPs are moving towards the Peshmerga frontlines and transferred to the designated camps. 

Hoshang Mohammed, Director General of the JCC, speaking to KRG website on Monday said that since the beginning of the Mosul liberation operation in October 2016, 164,000 Mosul IDPs arrived to the Kurdistan Region and have been resided in IDP camps in Erbil and Duhok.

Regarding the situation of the IDP camps, Mohammed said that all the camps build to shelter the IDPs in Erbil province have been full and are unable to receive more IDPs, stating that only if families return to the liberated areas, the new arrivals will be resided. 

However, the KRG official added that there are more than 8000 plots available to receive new IDPs in Duhok camps, but it is difficult to receive new waves of IDPs due to limited financial capability of the KRG.

As the military operation to retake the west Mosul from the Islamic State (IS) continue for six months, more civilians are getting displaced on daily basis. 

There are around 400,000 civilians still in the IS controlled areas of west Mosul, the KRG official believes that as the street fight in the west Mosul’s old city intensifies, more IDPs are expected to be displaced towards the Kurdistan Region.

According to Mohammed, there is a big pressure on all the services in the Kurdistan Region due to the displacement and military operations in Mosul, as per health sector, the official revealed that there are more than 35,000 wounded civilians and military personnel have been treated in Erbil and Duhok hospitals.

Speaking about the IDPs needs in the Region, Mohammed called for direct financial assistance to support the KRG’s efforts in helping the IDPs and meet required needs of IDPs that includes shelter, health services, food items and non-food items, water provision and other basic needs in the camps and host community.

According to the JCC, the Kurdistan Region hosts 40% of all Iraqi IDPs and 97% of the Syrian refugees in Iraq which is around 1.5 million IDPs and refugees.

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