PM Barzani, Australian envoy to Iraq discuss IDP returns

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The voluntary return of Iraqis displaced in the Kurdistan Region was one of the subjects discussed on Tuesday between Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Australia’s ambassador to Iraq, Paula Ganly.

Barzani and Ganly discussed Australia’s role in the Kurdistan Region, including relations between the two governments, investment, and the Kurdistan Region’s Government’s ongoing economic reform program, according to a press release from the prime minister’s office.

They also addressed the condition of internally displaced people and refugees in camps in the Kurdistan Region, as well as their voluntary return home.

The autonomous Kurdish region continues to host nearly one million refugees and displaced people despite the defeat of ISIS, according to KRG Joint Coordination Center figures. The government covers nearly 70 percent of the costs of running the camps.

Iraq has begun to shut down its own camps as part of the government’s bid to end the issues of displacement, closing more than 80 percent of host communities under its jurisdiction. A significant portion of the displaced population have since been redisplaced, and ongoing issues in their areas of origin have caused fears of radicalization, Human Rights Watch recently said.

Security clearance issues, a lack of reconstruction funds, and poor job opportunities are a few of the obstacles facing Iraqis who want to return home.

The KRG has not shut down any displacement camps in the areas it governs, instead preconditioning a “safe and voluntary return” for their closure.