US official tours Faysh Khabur border with Syria

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – US Deputy Chief of Mission in Iraq Gregory D. LoGerfo recently toured the Kurdistan Region’s Faysh Khabur border crossing with Syria and met with border director Shawkat Barbuhari.

“The DCM thanked the Director for helping refugees find shelter during the worst violence in Syria,” the US Consulate General Erbil tweeted on Thursday. 

He also “discussed the economic and trade environment,” the consulate said. 

According to the latest data of the Kurdistan Region’s Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) for August, the Kurdistan Region continues to host the largest number of internationally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in Iraq.

There are still 926,018 IDPs and refugees in the Kurdistan Region, including 241,937 Syrian refugees.

The Faysh Khabur border has been crucial for cross-border aid to northeastern Syria. 

On Jan. 16, 2013, the KRG inaugurated the Kurdistan Region-Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) border crossing (Faysh Khabur) by building a pontoon bridge across the Tigris about one kilometer downstream from the Iraqi-Syrian-Turkish border triangle. 

As a result, the crossing from the Region Region has been used to bring in produce and construction materials to northeast Syria.

Also, in a rare visit, a Coalition patrol visited the other side of the Faysh Khabur crossing in northeast Syria on Nov. 1. 

LoGerfo also recently met with Duhok Governor Ali Tatar to discuss economic and political developments in Duhok, the US Consulate General Erbil said in a tweet on Thursday. 

LoGerfo and US Consul General Robert Palladino visited the historic Delal Bridge in the city of Zakho in Dohuk Province, which was inaugurated as an independent administration in the Kurdistan Region in September by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.