Fallujah refugees hesitant to return home for fear of Shiite militia

 
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Some residents of the Iraqi Sunni city of Fallujah who recently fled the bombardment and intense fighting between the Islamic State (ISIS) and government forces have expressed fear of returning home for fear of revenge by members of the Shiite militia known as Hashd al-Shaabi.
 
“My work is in Fallujah and if I get the chance I will eventually go back alone and leave my family in Kurdistan for fear of execution and revenge acts,”  Abdullah Al-Jamelyi, a refugee who is now sheltered in the Kurdistan Region told Rudaw.
 
The Iraqi government announced last week, after its forces recaptured Fallujah from ISIS militants, that residents who fled the war would be able to return home once the city has been cleared of bombs and explosives.
 
“Our only hope is to go home and live in peace just like other countries, but there is something that scares us which is the internal conflicts,” said another refugee. “All the refugees are watching the conditions of the city from a distance.”
 
Many Fallujans reported acts of murder, torture and mass imprisonment by members of the Shiite militia as they made their ways out of the city during the fight earlier this year.
 
The acts were confirmed by Anbar governor Suhaib al-Rawi who told Rudaw that thousands of civilians had been held against their will and scored killed in cold blood. In one case alone, said al-Rawi, 17 people were killed by the Shiite militia.
 
“Fallujah families are fearing the sectarian tension and the situation can no longer be controlled by the government because Hashd al Shaabi is in charge of the region and the government can no longer do anything,” said Ali Khdir, another refugee.
 
Some of the refugees believe that Sunni politicians have ignored their plight and “they are working for their own interest.”
 
More than 20,000 fled Fallujah to camps set up by the UN refugee agency and other international aid organizations outside the city. More than 90,000 others were believed trapped in the city throughout the military operation.