In April the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a local team from the United Nations and other humanitarian groups requested $442 million to "deliver humanitarian assistance to 850,000 most vulnerable people," stated the KRG Joint Crisis Coordination Centre (JCC) in its report for August.
Just 59 percent of that total has been funded, including a meager 14 percent for the third quarter of 2018.
"Lack of funding has obliged humanitarian partners to either reduce or completely terminate services and ongoing projects," stated the JCC.
The KRG remains committed to hosting IDPs and refugees, but top officials are concerned.
"They will remain helpless and without support and become vulnerable as they have no means to survive," said Hoshang Mohamad, the head of the JCC, on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, KRG officals met with a delegation from the Vienna Diplomatic Academy, urging international assistance.
Pleased to meet with an alumni delegation from Vienna Diplomatic Academy and KRG's Representative Dr. Mustafa Ramazan, briefed them about current humanitarian crisis, IDPs, refugees, needs and priorities, KRG's policy and efforts to help them. @JccKrg @KRG_Austria pic.twitter.com/Sbfowctd7H
— Hoshang (@HoshangMohamed) September 18, 2018
The Kurdistan Region is hosting 1,476,183 people, including 280,176 refugees, according to the situation report from August.
"Alarmed by the threat to the welfare and food security of displaced populations, the Kurdistan Regional Government calls upon the federal government and the international community to prevent a potential humanitarian tragedy by allocating needed resources," stated the JCC.
The center reiterated its commitment to a "rights-based policy" for those seeking refuge in the Kurdistan Region; however, said it does not have the resources to "carry on the ongoing services and implement the planned projects."
"Inadequate response will have dire consequences for the displaced populations and host communities and inflict a heavy cost of inaction on the government and the international community," added the JCC.
Through the ISIS conflict that began in 2014, the KRG hosted 1.8 million IDPs and refugees including more than 200,000 refugees from Syria. About 98 percent of Syrians who came to Iraq came to the Kurdistan Region.
Iraq is currently in the process of forming an new government. Regional officals are gravely concerned with an impending humanitarian crisis, amid reports of continued extremist activity in the disputed areas which border Kurdistan.
