ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Erbil on Saturday where he was scheduled to hold meetings with the Kurdish officials regarding the refugee crisis in the region. Accompanied by the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim and the head of the Islamic Development Bank, Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, the UN Secretary General is in Erbil to rally larger support for millions of refugees in the region. The top delegation was received by the Kurdish Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani and his deputy, Qubad Talabani at Erbil International Airport earlier on Saturday. The delegation met with the Kurdish President, Masoud Barzani and were expected to release a statement later about how to tackle the displaced families in Iraq and refugees from Syria. The UN Secretary General is in the Middle East ahead of a World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul later in May, where he is expected to call on world leaders for larger support of refugees in the region. According to a UN report last year, the number of people displaced at the end of 2014 had risen to a staggering 59.5 million compared to 51.2 million a year earlier and 37.5 million a decade ago. Ban Ki-Moon's last visit to Erbil was in July 2014.
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