ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani on Thursday symbolically laid the cornerstone for a long-stalled housing complex in the war-torn Shingal district where there has been a lack of reconstruction and assistance for Yazidis to return to their homes.
“This is not a favor, but our duty towards our people… who are an interconnected part of this nation with other Iraqis who have lived together in brotherhood and tolerance for decades,” Sudani said, speaking via video link at the ceremony to lay the cornerstone for a housing complex in Kocho.
The construction project has been stalled since 2021.
It is being carried out in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Nadia’s Initiative, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“We are working to help the people of Kojo [Kocho] return to their beautiful village voluntarily and with dignity,” read a statement from the UNDP.
In July, Iraq's migration ministry announced that 805 internally displaced persons from Duhok’s Sharia camp voluntarily returned to their places of origin in Shingal district, part of a broader wave of Yazidis returning to their homes a decade after they fled.
In 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) seized Shingal and committed genocide against the Yazidi minority. Thousands fled as ISIS killed men and older women, and enslaved younger women and children. Over 5,000 Yazidis were killed.
Though Shingal was liberated in 2015, unresolved political disputes, lack of reconstruction, and insecurity have hindered the return of most families.
The Iraqi government has made it a priority to close camps and for all displaced families to return to their homes.
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