Khurmatu IDPs demand militia withdrawal, compensation

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of displaced persons from Tuz Khurmatu staged a demonstration in the city of Kalar on Sunday calling for the restoration of security to their hometown and urging authorities to pull Iran-backed Shiite militias out of the area who are blamed for killing, displacing and burning Kurdish houses.

The representative of the protesters announced a five-point demand which essentially included “The return of IDPs to their homes in Khurmatu as soon as possible, before winter arrives.”

They also demanded “the formation of a committee to look into the incidents that happened in Khurmatu.”

They urged authorities in Baghdad to “compensate the affected people of Khurmatu, people whose homes, shops and markets were torched.”

"Normalizing the security situation in Khurmatu and a peaceful return of its people,” was the fourth demand of the angry protesters.

They stressed the significance of “dedicating an impartial force or preferably an international peacekeeping force, if necessary, to protect security in Khurmatu and its entire people without difference."

The protesters also criticized the Kurdish government for its inaction in the face of what they call atrocities being committed against them.

“The government never reached out to the people of Tuz Khurmatu. Go and see yourself how they cope in mud in the villages [around Tuz Khurmatu] without clothing or basic needs,” lamented an angry protester, pleading for help from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Another protester said despite all the atrocities committed against Kurds in Tuz Khurmatu they "do not seek the ignition of a fight between Kurds and Turkmen, but only stability and return home.”

A Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament assured the protesters of continued attempts to restore stability in Tuz Khurmatu and help the displaced return home.

“As Kurdistani blocs, we have raised a petition to the parliament which will be discussed in the parliament’s next session. We work to make you return,” he said. “We understand that the security of Tuz Khurmatu is bad.”

He echoed the need for the formation of a special force consisting of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen to take the security matters of the town.

“The best solution is to help you return,” he said.

He said a committee was going to be formed in the parliament to visit Tuz Khurmatu to report damages done to it.

Fuad Masum, president of Iraq pledged in Sulaimani on Saturday to resolve tensions in Tuz Khurmatu.

Iraqi forces and Shiite militias took control of Tuz Khurmatu and other disputed areas in October, forcing many, mainly Kurds, from their homes.

According to UN figures, 172,000 people have since returned home, but more than 181,000 people are still displaced, fearing violence.

Most of the returns have been to Kirkuk, with “no discernable return movements” to Tuz Khurmatu, the UN’s humanitarian office stated in its October bulletin for Iraq.

Rights monitors Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations, have documented killings, attacks, looting, and arson in Tuz Khurmatu.