The Iraqi Migration Ministry rejected on Tuesday a Human Rights Watch report that warned against violating the rights of displaced residents from the Sinjar district if authorities plan the closure of camps in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region by next July 30.
Despite the liberation of the region from ISIS nine years ago, many Sinjar residents still live in displacement camps in Kurdistan or in diaspora countries.
On Tuesday, spokesperson of the Migration Ministry Ali Abbas Jahangir told Asharq Al-Awsat the HRW report “may be inaccurate” because the Iraqi government has linked its decision to close IDP camps in Kurdistan to three basic options that are based on international standards.
Three options
Listing the three options, Jahangir said the IDPs could either return to Sinjar, relocate to other cities under federal control, or remain in the Kurdistan Region but outside the camps.
There are 23 camps in Iraq, mostly located across Kurdistan. The camps currently host about 30,000 families or more than 150,000 people, including 25,000 families from Sinjar, according to the spokesperson.
Jahangir said the Ministry’s role is to implement the decisions of the Iraqi government, and therefore, is not concerned with ensuring services and infrastructure in the areas where the displaced people should return.
He added: “We have more than 22,000 families returning to Sinjar and we have more than 5,000 applications for return submitted.”
Jahangir said the Ministry announced a package of aid and incentives for returnees, including a one-time payment of 4 million Iraqi dinars (about $2,600) per family, social security benefits, and interest-free small business loans.
The HRW had warned on Monday that the planned closure of displaced people’s camps in Kurdistan by a July 30 deadline will imperil the rights of many camp residents from Sinjar.
Sinjar remains unsafe and lacks adequate social services to ensure the economic, social, and cultural rights of thousands of displaced people who may soon be forced to return, the organization said.
Security and political sources agree that Iraq has not been able to extend its full authority in Sinjar. They said the security of the province is still run by a group of official forces, in addition to Arab and Kurdish armed factions, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Voluntary return
Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Many Sinjaris have been living in camps since 2014 and they deserve to be able to go home, but returns need to be safe and voluntary.”
She warned that given the lack of services, infrastructure, and safety in the district, the government risks making an already bad situation worse.
“Nobody wants to live in an IDP camp forever, but closing these camps when home isn’t safe is not a sustainable solution to displacement,” Sanbar said.
Although the HRW report noted the package of aid and incentives offered by the Iraqi government to encourage returnees, it found in a 2023 report that the main barriers to Sinjaris’ return were the government’s failure to provide compensation for the loss of their property and livelihoods, delayed reconstruction, an unstable security situation, and lack of justice and accountability for crimes and abuses against them.
