ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The last internally displaced persons (IDP) camp under federal Iraqi control is facing difficulties in its planned closure, according to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Migration and Displacement, citing pressure from society as well as clans preventing families at the camp from returning home.
"Most of the displaced in al-Jada camp have clan problems, in addition to the involvement of their families and children with Daesh [Arabic acronym for ISIS, or Islamic State] terrorist gangs, which prevent them from returning to their areas of origin," said Ali Abbas, spokesperson for Iraq's Ministry of Migration and Displacement, told Iraqi state-owned newspaper al-Sabah on Thursday.
Abbas says that society has outright rejected the IDPs. He notes that on one occasion a group of families were taken back to their homes, but were subsequently returned back to the camp the very same day due to people in the area not accepting their return.
Deputy minister Karim al-Nouri said "the ministry is working to implement the orders and instructions issued by the higher security authorities regarding the families of ISIS in al-Jada camp, where they are being dealt with humanely by providing them with their needs that help them live inside the camps."
According to Nouri, the possibility of establishing rehabilitation programs for children in the camp to work on their social integration is being studied by the ministry.
Earlier this year, Iraq repatriated a group of 111 families from the notorious al-Hol camp in northeast Syria (Rojava) and transferred them to al-Jada camp.
In 2020, the Iraqi government began a push to close camps around the country. Last December, authorities announced their intention to close al-Jada camp. The closure would mark federal Iraq, excluding the Kurdistan Region, free of IDP camps.
However, the move was harshly criticized by rights groups as they called for voluntary returns instead.
Baghdad has asked the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to close camps under its control, but Kurdish officials say they will not force IDPs to return home.
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