The campaign named 'Life Campaign to Rebuild Tuz Khurmatu' launched on Thursday during Rudaw TV's Legel Ranj program and on Friday, the first day of the campaign, at least 27 million dinars (nearly $23,000) was collected in aid at 20 mosques throughout Erbil city, according to the Tuz Khurmatu People Organization.
Farhad Akbar, a member of the organization said they kicked off the campaign to financially help those wanting to return home.
"People's houses have been burnt or blown up and they do not know where to go and some people haven’t any money or salaries, thus, we launched this campaign in order to alleviate some of their grievances and plight," Akbar said.
According to the organization's figures, since October 16, 88 houses belonging to Kurds have been blown up, 300 houses burnt down and nearly 2,500 looted. This is in addition to "giant bazaars" which were entirely looted or burned.
A religious cleric slammed the Iraqi government for not even registering Tuz Khurmatu’s displaced as IDPs.
Dr. Fakhir Abbas added that even if they return to their troubled city, they will not be compensated by the Iraqi government, while IDPs from other parts of Iraq are compensated when returning home.
Responding to complaints Abbas made, the Iraqi Migration Minister Darbaz Mohammed rejected his claims saying "all of them have been registered as IDPs by us and also assisted."
"Those who have been sheltered at camps have been given the best places," Mohammed claimed. "Those who wanted tents were given one and we have also assisted them with food rations."
He also rejected claims that any Iraqi IDPs received compensation from the government.
'Whenever the [Migration] Ministry receives money [from the government], the Tuz Khurmatu IDPs, like any other IDPs in Iraq, will be compensated and receive money."
Mohammed pointed out that each IDP that returns home will be given 1,500,000 Iraqi dinars (approximately $1,200).
For the purpose of reconstructing Tuz Khurmatu in Salahadin province, where the troubled city lies, it has been added to the list of areas which have suffered damages at the hands of ISIS, according a member of the council.
"I talked to the governor of Salahadin, Dr. Abdullah Ahmed, and he told me 'no worries, we have added Tuz Khurmatu as an area devastated due to the fight against ISIS'," Mullah Hassan, a Kurdish member of the council, told Rudaw.
On January 8, the Iraqi parliament voted to establish a multi-ethnic investigative committee after the city came under the control of Iraqi forces and by Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces (PMF) in October 2017.
Members of the committee have been selected, but they are waiting parliamentary approval before beginning their work.
"The Iraqi parliament was initially neglectful in forming the committee," Farhad Qadir, a Kurdish MP in Baghdad criticized.
The multi-ethnic town of Tuz Khurmatu lies about 155 kilometers (96 miles) south of the Kurdistan Region’s capital city of Erbil. It is considered a disputed or Kurdistani area claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad.
A Rudaw field investigation on November 26 found that thousands of houses in Kurdish neighborhoods had been looted, burned and bombed, or appear to have been appropriated by the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi.
Thousands of Kurds from Tuz Khurmatu are taking shelter across the Kurdistan Region.
The Kurdish parliament has dubbed the events as “genocide.” Amnesty International has also confirmed that there was looting and violence committed against the Kurdish population.
