Kurdistan Region has ‘no intention’ of closing down its displacement camps: JCC

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has “no intention whatsoever” of closing down displacement camps under its control in the near future, a KRG official told Rudaw English on Thursday, despite the federal government’s earlier announcement that ten camps in the Kurdistan Region will “soon” be closed.

Iraq’s Minister of Migration and Displacement Evan Faeq Jabro said that ten camps will soon be closed in the Kurdistan Region, state media reported late Wednesday, marking pressure on the autonomous region which has thus far not followed suit with the federal government’s rapid camp closure mission.

“The KRG does not have any intention whatsoever to close the camps where the displaced populations are hosted. Such measures would be in contrast to our humanitarian policy,” Director General of the KRG Joint Crisis Coordination (JCC), Hoshang Mohammed, told Rudaw English on Thursday.

The JCC added that they maintain their voluntary return policy, saying “return must take place under safe, voluntary and dignified conditions for the displaced populations.”

“We recognize our limited capacity to manage the humanitarian crisis on our own and therefore, we ask to the Government of Iraq and the International Community to sustain the provision of humanitarian assistance and basic service delivery to the IDP families who have not yet decided to go back to their places of origin until they feel confident that the conditions for returning home are properly established," added the statement.

The Iraqi government is on a push to shut down camps across the country, a move that has attracted criticism from rights groups.

Many IDPs are reluctant to return home because of continuing violence in their home areas, a lack of reconstruction following the destruction of their homes, and little in the way of basic services. Some who voluntarily left the camps to salvage their homes and livelihoods have been forced to return to the camps, unable to piece together the basics. 

Jabro visited the Kurdistan Region in January in response to a spike in deaths by suicide in the camps, also intending to start discussions about accelerating the closure of camps in the autonomous region. 

The Kurdistan Region is home to 35 IDP and refugee camps, which host more than 190,000 refugees and IDPs six years after the advance of ISIS that left millions of residents of northern and western Iraq displaced, according to data received from the JCC in January. 

AFP reported in February that Iraq is sending “mixed signals” over camp closures and appears to have backed down on closing a camp for IDPs, “following a week of confusion and outcry from families unable to return home.”